Earlier this month we achieved a merger of our YMCAs that was 7-years in the making.  I think the amount of time we put into the process was reflected in how well our voting membership supported the Motion – almost unanimous - by a 273-1 count. I’m not sure who the 1 person who voted against the merger was – but so goes the democratic process.

Today – on May 1st – we’ll officially merge and close the “books” as it was on process.    Later in May our new Regional Board – for the YMCAs across Southwestern Ontario will convene their first merged meeting – in our YMCA in Goderich.

Later this year – in October – we will bring forward our new Strategic Plan – Vision 2016, a plan that will guide our work as a YMCA for the next 4-years.  It is an exciting process, that has involved a number of community consultations with a wide variety of stakeholders.  It’s a time for us to re-set our goals, and to understand how dynamic our impact can be on community.

Our merger brings the total number of YMCAs in Canada down by one.  If I’m correct – I believe our Federation now has 49 YMCA Associations in Canada, but I am not entirely sure – and as a non-details guy I wouldn’t quote me on the exact number.  However – I think it is a number I’d like to confirm in my  next entry.

It’s a great time to visit our Learning & Career Centre – and view our Leadership Challenge wing – and our high-level challenge course.  The program kicks off officially later in May – but we’ve already had a number of local community and school groups in using the facility – great steps in a new direction at the Centre.

Kim Bentley-MacDonald is off on parental leave as her and her family has grown again.  To fill the GM position in Chatham we’ve asked Ian Foss to spend his time between our Chatham and Sarnia HFR Centres.  We’ve got a great supporting staff in both communities that allows us this leadership model – one that has been pioneered over longer periods of time in the GTA.  I’m really excited for all the staff and the additional learning and responsibility everyone will take on during Kim’s absence.

Well that is it for now – just a short entry – May awaits!

This April at Special Meetings of both of our YMCAs (in Chatham and in Sarnia) we will be asking our voting members to approve a Motion our Board endorsed at their March 20th meeting that paves the way for the merger of our YMCAs.

This is another key step on our journey in building an influential regional YMCA that has the capacity to lead in community strengthening.  If you’ve been close to our YMCAs these past years you will know that we’ve gained from working together in a collective under the auspices of a management agreement that saw Sarnia/Goderich provide leadership to Chatham-Kent.

That arrangement allowed for (among other things) the construction of a new YMCA in Chatham and the opening of satellite YMCAs in Forest, Parkhill, and most recently in Clinton.  It allowed us to work with partners in municipal, provincial and federal levels of government to build strong social program commitments and allowed us to be a sought after partner for new program design and innovation.

On April 11th and again on April 12th we will call on our voting membership to support the motion and ratify the merger of our YMCAs under the banner of the YMCAs across Southwestern Ontario.   Members won’t miss a beat.  We’ll remain anchored in our communities, no “place names or building names” will change, and all the staff will remain in place as we’ve already achieved an adequate  level of delivery strength and efficiency in our partnership.

I am really excited about formalizing our relationship and encourage all staff and volunteers, as well as members who are eligible to vote (as voting members of either YMCA) to come out and support the Board of Directors resolution supporting merger.  It is a cumulative step, years in the making, that has everything to do with how we strengthen ourselves as YMCAs in the communities we share, and how we are able to build a new platform for success that will live on long past the time we will spend with our Y’s!  Join me in voting “YES” for merger – and help us make it official as we welcome the newest YMCA collaborative that is the YMCAs across Southwestern Ontario officially into Canada’s family of YMCAs that are Growing Stronger Together

Jim

Thought I would write this while thinking of everyone away down south and the snow long gone around here.  If you are one of those down south – congratulations!  If you are sticking around locally – fear not spring is on the way.  Our YMCA’s are coming out of winter mode by way of a a very busy March Break season - lots for everyone to do – and luckily (it would seem), some warm and sunny weather on the way for the second 1/2 of the week up here.

After the Break is complete we will be very busy – many ”must do events” lead of the transition into summer.  Here is what my checklist looks like for late March moving into April:

1. Late March (26th & 27th) – Meet with staff groups in Chatham and Sarnia concerning our April merger vote and the implications merger has on our staff (very little direct impact on daily jobs) and talk about how they can support and strengthen their YMCA through this process.

2. March 28th – Host our second SLC Day Long meeting (SLC stands for Senior Leadership Circle – comprised of 40-50 senior leaders from across our Y’s) where we will explore feedback and results concerning our fall Employee Opinion Survey, and update the progress of our 2013-16 Strategic Plan among other priorities.

3. April 11th & 12th – Convene 2 critical AGMs & Special Member Meetings in Sarnia, then in Chatham to introduce our new Board members, as well as the Merger Agreement that will bring all our YMCAs together officially as the YMCAs across Southwestern Ontario.   This will conclude a 6-year process that will bring greater strength, stability, and capability to our YMCAs.  Members shouldn’t be impacted adversely at all.  We’ve already run as an amalgam of Y’s since 2007, this is a step that formalizes our commitment

4. May 17th - Enjoy the Sarnia YMCAs Celebration of Youth Awards – always a great way to see the work of some exceptional young people in our community recognized by bursaries and educational awards that help them enter the post-secondary world.  This year – as last year its held at Pauline MacGibbon PS in Sarnia, a fabulous new venue!

5.  May 24-26 – Attend our national AGM in Toronto along with key Board and staff to ratify our Federated Strategic Plan – Plan Y, something we’ve all been contributing to and working on since June 2009 when we attend Portage – our YMCA Congress in Winnipeg, Manitoba

6. June 3 – the annual YMCA – CHOK Bridge Race from Port Huron to Sarnia’s Canaterra Park.  I’ve run in this race since 2006 and I just love the atmosphere and (quite truly) the view from the bridge as you go across.  I’ve got my time for the 10K down to just over 54 minutes – I’ve been training all year and hope to get a little lower this year – but in any case its just a blast – over 700 runners – its a real cool thing to be involved in and I love to see the commitment of staff and volunteers first-hand.

Well that’s my short list – hope I see you at several of them, and then it gets us all to June, summers’s door-step….

Each year YMCA Canada supports staff and volunteers from it member associations by providing educational awards and bursaries to worthy YMCA staff/volunteers who are active within the movement in Canada.  Each year we try to get this information into the hands of staff who could use help in pursuing or furthering their educational goals.  This year I wanted to make every effort to get this news out  to everyone.  I’ve spent a month speaking with staff about their opinions and ideas concerning our YMCA. A theme of staff development and education came up at almost every session I attended, and I’d be pleased to sign and endorse each application that comes forward.  I encourage you all to review these bursaries in detail on the Y drive or the external site Sharon McKay has mapped in HR.  Here is the hi-level on each Award:

The Alexander Scholarship Fund Award is a service award of the Y’s Men International, named after the founder of the Y’s Men Organization, Paul William Alexander.  The purpose of the ASF is to encourage and promote the recruitment of students for the YMCA profession and to assist YMCA professional staff in securing further training/education related to their YMCA profession. Up to a maximum of eight awards for $1,000 each will be available to qualified men and women.

The Donald S. McCuaig Leadership Development Award will provide an opportunity for professional staff or volunteers, who work directly with youth groups in physical education or sports activities, to improve their leadership abilities and grasp the values that are the foundation of YMCA programming.  An amount of up to $1,500 annually is available for the training of those staff or volunteers who give direct leadership to leader training corps, competitive sport teams*, and physical activity clubs for youth that are designed and conducted in such a way as to keep the youth involved over a period of several years.

The J.H. Gundy Award is offered in memory of “a great Canadian gentleman, an eminently successful businessman, and one whose life was a great example and inspiration to all who knew him”.  An amount of up to $1,500 annually will enable full-time
YMCA management and program staff to complete undergraduate or graduate studies or other specialized courses to further their YMCA career.

The Rix Rogers Community Builders Award is offered in memory of an outstanding community leader who championed the YMCA’s vital role in building stronger communities through collaborative solutions with community partners”.  An amount of up to $1,000 annually is available for the training of staff who give leadership to supporting the YMCA’s efforts in community building. This leadership will be demonstrated through the mobilization of exceptional initiatives that confront community
issues affecting individuals and families (e.g. youth-at-risk, child abuse, homeless youth, etc.)

The S.J. Moore Award is offered in memory of one of Canada’s great business innovators and religious leaders”. An amount of up to $1,000 annually is available to YMCA members who have demonstrated qualities of leadership and wish to continue toward the development of Christian personality and building a Christian society.

Each of these awards carry significant criteria.  Be sure you have fully review each award before filling out the application.  Speak with your supervisor, manager or VP, or call me directly and I will be happy to help out.  Each Award has a deadline for application so be sure to get electronic and hard copy over to my office for a signature well before you are due to submit.

This is a wonderful opportunity and a great way to build and take advantage of, the Federation we are a part of.  I encourage everyone to consider advancing their skills and education, and the annual YMCA Canada Awards & Bursaries is a marvelous element of being a part of the YMCA

Jim

Just before Christmas this past Holiday season I had the opportunity to provide a tour of the YMCA to Lloyd Welton – father of our member Dave Welton at our Chatham-Kent YMCA.  Dave had pre-arranged the visit with his father who is a former YMCA CEO and national YMCA professional.  Llyod and Dave were joined by Dave’s brother Jeff and his wife Betty, and Dave’s mother Jean (Lloyd’s wife) as well as his daughter Katie and her family during our tour that Friday.

Now I’ve done my share of tours of our YMCA’s but this one is one I will remember for the rest of my career.  The Welton family has inhereted a great set of  community responsibility through Lloyd and Jean.  They expressed their love for their family and their joy to share in their YMCA’s success – not only today, but in times past.  Lloyd and I had a great chat about YMCA leadership and about the people who make our Y such a special place to work and to grow as leaders.

Lloyd had been a Y professional and the Executive Director of the Chatham Y in the early 70′s - which coincided with when I went to camp as a young boy.  Lloyd’s gentle and engaging manner brought back memories of the many people who I have met at the YMCA through my career and I was reminded how they (like Lloyd) had made an impact on me and my contemporaries.    

We toured for about an hour that Friday morning – and I got a sense for the man and the professional leader Lloyd was during his career.  I met a family that was proud of their dad, their grandfather and their great-grandfather.  I was reminded of how we benefit today from the work of others who came before us in our lives – some, like Lloyd who we only have the honour of meeting later in life, yet we can surely imagine the influence men and women (like Lloyd and Jean and Dave) have had on people throughout their rich and diverse lives.

When our visit was over I thanked Dave and his family for the honour of meeting and spending time with their dad.  They thanked me for taking time to come down during the Holidays to tour with Lloyd.  I’m not sure who had the greatest time that day, but I know how much it meant to me to spend some time with someone like Lloyd and I thought of how fast we all speed through our days at times – often not making the time to share with others and gain from their presence.

I’m hopeful I will have some time to pay Lloyd a visit over the next month or two -  and I’m hopeful we can have a return visit in the summer at the Y on the its 1st anniversary at Courthouse Lane in Chatham, I know I need to keep learning from gentlemen like Lloyd and Dave, and I’m thankful for Dave asking me to join his family on a Friday in December that I’ll remember long after I have completed my time at work with our YMCAs

Jim   

To borrow on a Bruce Springsteen line, I’ve had the opportunity over the past couple of weeks to be involved in some excellent YMCA developments.  Thought I would share;

Plan Y – Toronto

Spent the weekend of November 17-19th in downtown Toronto at the National CEO Forum where national staff and 50 CEOs contributed to the design of Plan Y – the Strategic Plan for Canada’s YMCA scheduled to be ratified and introduced to member associations at the national Annual General Meeting of YMCA Canada in Toronto this coming May.  The plan focuses on the future impact of the YMCA in Canada.  We are in the late stages of the planning  process which began in June 2009 in Winnipeg at Portage – our National Conference.  Many of you have had input and the team at Y Canada has developed a number of initiatives and objectives as part of that process.  Upon ratification of the plan by National Council in May Canada’s YMCA ne plan will frame a call to action for all YMCAs in our country

Southwestern Ontario’s upcoming Strategic Plan

On a similar topic, we completed a series of consultations with various stakeholder groups as an important part of the process around our next strategic cycle (scheduled to begin in 2013) Meetings occurred in Goderich, Chatham and Sarnia in early November, and resulted in over 28 groups providing input and advice on our YMCA’s direction.  Our Board provided input during their October Board Retreat on the 25th.  External groups are underway. Fred Galloway (our consultant) will begin to work through the data and themes – his first report back to our Strategic Planning Committee is scheduled for December 7th.  The entire plan is scheduled for confirmation by our Board in the spring of 2013 and will be informed to a great degree by our obligations as a YMCA under Y Canada’s Plan Y. 

YMCA Peace Week – times three

November 19th – 26th was YMCA Peace Week across Canada.  Early in the week we awarded a medal in Goderich to Luke Elliott who is a fantastic community organizer who uses social media to support local community causes.  Ann Marie and her team hosted the event at the Y in Goderich.  On Friday I participated in recognizing Brian & Shannon Prince in Chatham for their work in cataloging and bringing to the public the history of the Underground Railway.  Brian and Shannon are from North Buxton and they along with friends and family participated in a great event that morning.  I was very proud of Kim and her staff for hosting a fine event in our newest full-service Branch.     Ceremonies will be completed on December 5th when we present the Sarnia YMCA Peace Medal to Rotarian (and former Rotary District Governor) Tanya Wolf at a special Rotary lunch that day.  What fantastic recognition to all these worthy recipients as well as for our YMCA in providing an appropriate profile for their efforts.  

Ontario Para-Sport games

On November 23rd Ian Foss and I attended a presentation at the Sarnia Chamber of Commerce as guests of the Ontario para-sport games committee.  Committee Chairs, Vicki Praill and our own Rob Janoska presented 7 cheques to local agencies and not-for-profits for monies raised by the sponsors of this summer’s para-sport games held in Sarnia.  I learned that this was the 3rd renewal of the games (every 4 years in Sarnia) and saw a great slide show featuring the variety of sports and events hosted at the games and the wide range of persons and teams that attended this past summer.  We were thrilled to be recognized as an agency worth of the games support and received a a cheque from Rob and Vicki on behalf of the event that will go to providing greater accessibility to financial support for young people with disabilities through our YMCA Strong Kids Campaign.  Great job to Ron & Vicki and and their volunteers this past summer, what an awesome piece  community work on the behalf of a YMCA staff member!  Way to go Rob.  

YMCA Strengthening Community Campaign

On December 1st I had the privilege to host the official public launch of our Strengthening Community Capital campaign at the YMCA Learning and Career Centre in Sarnia.  Mike and Cynthia and their team had a wide range of guests on hand for the launch including our Campaign Chair Barry Hogan, Board Chair Chris Thomas, Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley, and Dev Siananni from the Trillium Foundation.  It was fabulous to see all our staff and many participants at the Centre join the group for the press conference.  As host I had an opportunity to recognize all our speakers and was thrilled at the support we got for our work to date (the renovations to the Centre, and equipment for our Community Houses ) and our work still to be done on the Leadership & Challenge Centre.  Our Campaign sits just ahead of $320,000 pledged to date with a goal of $1,500,000 by the end of 2012.  Thursday’s public launch was a great step forward for our work.  

Well, thats a series of small events tha have some big implications to the communities we serve.  On a side note, Mayor Bradley and I had a short on the status chat on Federal and Provincial funding for newcomer programs and childcare respectivley.  He mentioned that I should drop in and fill him in on the emerging challenges on these items.  From small things…

Just sayin’ is all,

Jim

I’ve always thought that as you progress and evolve as an organization you need to remain mindful to avoid “Jumping the Shark“.  I love the term – it has a bit of nostalgia in it for me and it reminds me that in our work if we don’t pay attention to the details that made us successful, that we may not be there in the future. As we enter the last year of our current 5-year Strategic Plan Growing Stronger Together 2008-2012, we have as great a responsibility to plan proactivley for our future, not resting on the successes of our past (however immediate they may seem) and to work diligently to prepare our YMCA for it’s future.  I don’t need to tell many of you that in our sector (the charitable not-for-profit sector) that the times are fluid and change is a constant companion.

 So get this – according to Wikipedia;

“Jumping the shark is an idiom, first employed to describe a moment in the evolution of a television show when it begins a decline in quality that is beyond recovery. In its initial usage, it referred to the point in a television program’s history where it has “outlived its freshness” where viewers feel “the writers have run out of ideas” and that “the series has [lost] what made it attractive.  These changes were often the result of efforts to revive interest in a show whose audience had begun to decline.  The usage of “jump the shark” has subsequently broadened beyond television, indicating the moment in its evolution when a brand, design, or creative effort moves beyond the essential qualities that initially defined its success, beyond relevance or recovery.

Wow – tough language – losing those essential qualities that have defined your organization?!   In my opinion it remains essential for an organization (like our YMCA) to continue to explore our role in the communities that define our work.  If we are unable or unwilling to do so – we will likely engage in many conversations that hark en back to a time when we had a handle on those essential qualities that “separated us from the herd”, recalling those things that made us different and unique and that made our work matter for people.  An essential responsibility of an organization’s leadership is to prevent those “lapses” or loss of relevance from occurring.

In our work we use the strategic planning cycle (a 3-5 year frame) to keep our objectives and goals relevant with the real world, and the factors that help to define our sector.  This month we are initiating and essential part of this process thru a scan of our business and service environment.  This scan will serve to inform our Board and Senior Staff as we begin the early stages of crafting our new strategic plan.  This stage will also include extensive staff and volunteer input from all our Branches and service areas in our main YMCA communities.  Schedules have been published in Goderich (includes Clinton), Sarnia (includes Lambton Shores and Parkhill and Corunna and Petrolia) and Chatham-Kent (includes Wallaceburg).  These 60 minute input sessions (by staff & volunteer group) are also available on our website, and will be facilitated by Fred Galloway (Galloway & Associates) who is guiding the strategic planning process that will result in our next plan – scheduled for 2013.  This is a process that really needs your input so I will encourage you – if you are reading this Blog – you are part of the group of YMCA staff, volunteers and stakeholders that I/we want to hear from, your participation is key.

So, back to the notion of jumping the shark – told you what it means and the genesis of the concept in media.  I’ve explained the consultative process that we are entering into and the notion that strategic planning and an organizations ability to remain relevant are important in preventing the fall into mediocrity and decay.  Certainly not the characteristics I’d wish to associate with a YMCA that continues to make a difference in people’s lives.  Here’s the exact reference from Wikipedia & the show it took place on;

“The phrase jump the shark comes from a scene in the fifth episode of the American TV series Happy Days titled “Hollywood Part 3,” that aired on September 20, 1977. In the episode, the central characters visit Los Angeles, where a water-skiing Fonzie, (Henry Winkler), wearing swim trunks and his leather jacket, jumps over a confined shark, answering a challenge to demonstrate his bravery. The series continued for nearly seven years after that, with a number of changes in cast and situations.   ”It’s a moment. A defining moment when you know that your favorite television program has reached its peak. That instant that you know from now on…it’s all downhill. Some call it the climax. We call it ‘Jumping the Shark.’ From that moment on, the program will simply never be the same.”

I was 15 years old and in grade 10 at Lester B. Pearson High School in Burlington in 1977.  I remember watching that episode – and yup it was downhill for Richie, Potsie, Ralph and the Fonz from there on – things were never the same and I watched the shows in syndication latter in life.  Lesson learned.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fonzie_jumps_the_shark.PNG

Jim

Last Friday – at just after 12:00pm the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario the Right Honourable David Onley officially opened the new Chatham-Kent YMCA.

I’m going to remember that day as the best day at work I have ever had.  It was the culmination of over 5-years of work for me, my staff and numerous volunteers.  More than that, it represented an opportunity to celebrate what a YMCA can do for a community and what the efforts of people who really want to make a difference can do.   It was one of the proudest moments that I have ever felt as a YMCA leader.   During the presentations that day I had the opportunity to recognize just a few of the people who had an influence on the leadership of the project including; Jim Fisher, Auggie Sunnen, Darcy McKeough, and Tony Pacheco.   I also mentioned the work of our Board Chairs since 2005; Pete Brennan, John Lawrence, Derek Robertson and Jim Loyer & Chris Thomas. (If you have a look at the donor wall you’ll see all those leaders who have presided over our Board in Chatham since the early 1950′s).  I also spoke of the work of our YMCA’s staff and the leadership that the Vice President’s brought to our team; Kathi Lomas McGee, Sean Dillon, Cate Evans, and Mike Walters, and GM Kim Bentley-MacDonald.

What I didn’t talk about – and I had not yet fully appreciated during the presentation -was what others added to make that day so great.  That extra ingredient that served to set it apart in my mind – and that which will continue to be so special whenever I look or visit our Chatham YMCA.  I recal that my day started early with a 7:30am arrival in Chatham were Vanessa Cullen had already spent the night – greeting and preparing 26 members of the Y Canada delegation for their whirlwind YMCA tour of our Southwestern Ontario (at least the spots we could get the to before 12 noon).  We got delegates there due to Gerry Gillis and Cynthia Lockery’s communication wizardry (check out the designs/maps – Vanessa has them!).  At JMFC that morning – the Y was in great shape and Ian Foss, Liz Fletcher and Anita Small were on point for a series of tours – as were Stacey Ross and the staff at YLCC later that morning.  Later, Board member Carolyn Blysniuk hosted the tour for a view of Sarnia from the top of 1 Sarnia Place as I raced down to Chatham to prepare for the opening event.

Throughout that day the staff lead by Kim Bentley-MacDonald and Denis Giles and Don Wallace played host to a fabulous opening – choreographed by Gerry Gillis and her team of staff and volunteers.  That evening we again hosted the National Board and staff at Darcy and Joyce McKeough’s in Blenheim before concluding with a dinner where our Board, senior staff  and their spouses were official guests of Y Canada.  What a great day – and yup – probably the best work-day ever – thanks to the dedication of so many - everyone’s commitment to putting on a wonderful show for our guests, the community, and our members was spectacular.  Getting to be part of that was the easy part – a part I will never forget. 

Thank you all – so many of you – both staff and volunteers for your contribution to Friday, September 16th 2011, the day we opened the new Chatham-Kent YMCA, and my best work-day ever!

Tomorrow evening at about 6 o’clock we’ll close one of the oldest functioning YMCA buildings in Canada for the last time.  The next day – at 101 Courthouse Lane – we’ll open for business in the newest YMCA facility in North America.   This great new YMCA for Chatham-Kent is the culmination of years of work for hundreds of Y volunteers and staff.  The entire Project cost just over $17.2 million – yet the debt required to undertake the facility will be retired by late 2015 !

Our Project has been a resounding success.  This week staff and volunteers have toured hundreds of people through the new Y facility in Chatham.  The attention to detail and engaged conversations by staff from across our regional YMCA family has been something to see.   I’ve been impressed with the way we have all risen to the challenge.  Kim Bentley-MacDonald and her team in Chatham have worked diligently to open the new Y – while all the time paying attention to the needs of our members and community in our old building.  We’ve relocated a childcare centre to Fatima PS, continued to operate our summer day camp at King Street, trained over 30 new staff, and welcomed donors, volunteers, and former Y leaders to a series of open houses at the new Y the past week.

Our Association Services staff have supported the new Y launch both on site and away at the Y’s regional office in Sarnia.  The type of coordination and resources that have come together in our newest Y is nothing short of thrilling for me to see.  What a coming together of time, talent, and treasure.  

In fact I recall coming to our YMCA 6-years ago and commenting on how distinct, and perhaps fragmented we were as a series of YMCAs in different communities across this part of Ontario.  It was rare for staff or volunteers to visit or care about what was happening in the next program centre, YMCA, or community.  Over the years we’ve come together, in fact, like our Strategic Plan challeged us to do – we’ve Grown Stronger Together.  I really believe this particular opportunity that was 5-years in the making - to design, then build, open & launch the best new YMCA in Canada is due to the collective talent and desire for success of all of those who support, volunteer and work for the YMCA.   Not only across Southwestern Ontario but across our Federation.  Input on this Project was very thorough and complex.  On Saturday July 30th the proof will be evident as the Chatham-Kent YMCA opens for its community. Our YMCAs across Southwestern Ontario grow stronger due to this facility’s  ability to connect and engage community in a way we’ve never had the opportunity to do in Chatham before!    

On a personal note, earlier last week I had the pleasure of touring 5 YMCA collegues (who have taught me much through my years with the YMCA)  through the then hectic and somewhat unfinished facility.  Eager to remain on pace I suggested we’ll be open for business Monday, July 25th.  My friend Dave Young (CEO of the YM-YWCA of Winnipeg) cautioned me, saying; ” Jimmy, you and your staff will have a lifetime to operate this YMCA, you’ll only get to open it once.  Make sure its ready”. As I reflect on those words I can’t believe how true they are – and how proud the staff and volunteers, and donors and members of our YMCAs will be as they visit, lead and operate the new YMCA.  It is ready and Saturday, July 30th will be a wonderful day for all of us who dreamed it, helped build it, and joined in being part of it.

Thanks to all of you – the YMCA makes a difference.  See for yourself on July 30th.   

Jim