Every year, the Pool & Hot Tub Alliance hands out the Greg Garrett Scholarship Award and the Dr. R. Neil Lowry Grant, both meant to honor the efforts of PHTA members and their dedication to the industry.
The Garrett Scholarship — awarded to two winners since 2022 — presents $5000 to builder or service professionals to be used toward PHTA certification or course fees, furthering their education in the industry. The 2024 winners are Matthew Ryther, service manager for Acqua Pura Pool Service in San Jose, Calif., and Jeff Johnson, president of MidWest Pools in Tulsa, Okla.
The Dr. R. Neil Lowry Grant, conceptualized to honor the great work of the man it’s named after, is a $5000 grant that goes to a public health official or department to bolster their efforts to serve their communities in the realm of water health and safety. This year’s winner of the Lowry Grant is the Central Valley Health District in Jamestown, N.D.
GREG GARRETT SCHOLARSHIP
Despite working in two different sectors of the industry, this year’s Garrett Scholarship recipients share family connections and credit their support as a large reason for their success.
“My dad was an athletic administrator for the Alamo Community College District in San Antonio, Texas,” shares Matthew Ryther of Acqua Pura Pool Service. “He got started with USA Swimming even before they rebranded it to that name. Being exposed to that world made me realize how much I loved it.”
For Jeff Johnson of MidWest Pools, his entry into the industry was similar. “I had a family member that built pools,” he explains. “Every summer since I was around 15, I would spend the summer building pools with them.”
Both Johnson and Ryther speak highly of the people they have met in the industry, especially those they consider mentors throughout their careers. For Johnson, this came in the form of Ken Lewis at Oklahoma Pool & Patio. “He was the one who originally told me to build my own pools and start my business,” he says. “He introduced me to all sorts of people from the industry that I would now consider friends.”
“So many values were instilled in me through my mentorship with Keith Zars,” Ryther says, referring to the owner of Keith Zars Pools, a San Antonio pool contractor. “One of the best things he taught me was to put down the pole and listen to the customer when they talk to you. You stop and take time with them.”
As the two industry pros look toward their future with the scholarship money in hand, they can hardly contain their excitement for the doors that the extra education will open.
“You think you know a lot until you get into real training,” Johnson says. “I want to learn all that I can so I can turn around and teach everyone else on my team. This scholarship will go toward bettering all of us.”
Ryther knows the value of adaptability just like Johnson does and is eager to join the ranks of the PHTA education classes. “I believe that standards are the distilled wisdom of people with expertise in their subject matter,” he says. “I look around the classes and think how honored and blessed I am to be here with these amazing leaders. I’m so grateful to receive such a thing.”
The Garrett Scholarship is designed to help industry pros expand their horizons, and this year’s winners are no different. “The sky is the limit for us,” Johnson says. “We want to grow as much as we can and continue to build the best pools we can. That will hopefully bring us into the commercial pool building world as well.”
For Ryther, he’s ready to look at the future of pool service. “I’m really excited to move past the methods I know and look at what’s coming next for the industry,” he says. “With everything going on in automation, the scholarship will help me stay on top of each new shift.”
DR. R. NEIL LOWRY GRANT
“There isn’t a lot of funding for aquatics in our area,” says Marcie Bata, director of Environmental Health for the Central Valley Health District, “so this grant is going to do a whole lot of good for our team and our community.”
Settled in between Bismarck and Fargo, Central Valley Health serves Jamestown, N.D., and its eight surrounding counties. Speaking for the awarded winners of the 2024 Dr. R. Neil Lowry Grant, Bata expresses her gratitude and hope for the future of the organization.
In recent years, the organization amended some out-of-date regulations to account for the differing needs of local aquatic facilities. Some had been built during the time of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in the Great Depression, and others were much newer.
To attend to the needs of each pool regardless of age, Bata says, the organization took a long hard look at the existing code book — a 12-page document that had to be dissected and at times rewritten to reflect current needs.
“Effective January 1, 2023, we had an updated aquatic facilities code,” Bata recalls. “It was a large undertaking to get in touch with every facility, making sure they were aware of the new rules in place, but it has been an amazing change.”
From hand-painted signs for pool- goers to clear standards that even the youngest pool employees can refer to, Central Valley Health is making it happen. “It’s so much easier for, say, the 16-year-old lifeguards to manage the pools. If problems arise, they have concrete rules backing them up if a situation calls for it.”
With the Lowry Grant in hand, Bata is eager to expand their outreach. Some of that could include newsletters sent to licensed facilities to ensure the spread of knowledge even without the need for an in-person visit from Bata or her team. Spreading out information over multiple avenues, she says, will support retention and strengthen the staff at each facility.
The organization also plans to shift their focus to the general public and its education. “The staff at our pools can do everything right, but [patrons and bathers] should understand that if they’re not taking care of themselves and their kids, they can mess things up for everyone.”
Whether it’s increasing resources for drowning prevention or encouraging pre-swim cleanliness, Bata is brimming with plans for the organization’s future. In order to bring Central Valley Health to the next level, she says, the funding provided by the Lowry Grant will be invaluable.
There’s no doubt that Central Valley Health is devoted to their community. “We do our job every day so the public can go somewhere and feel confident that they’re going to be safe. Then they can have an enjoyable experience that they’ll cherish.”
This article first appeared in the March 2025 issue of AQUA Magazine — the top resource for retailers, builders and service pros in the pool and spa industry. Subscriptions to the print magazine are free to all industry professionals. Click here to subscribe.
