| Coming
Events & Y News
Special Events
- YMCA Back Pack Buddies Collecting Funds
According to the USDA, our country is currently facing the largest food inflation in 20 years. The Grand River Area Family YMCA and Second Harvest of Greater St. Joseph have partnered for a third year to ensure Chillicothe children will take something special home in their backpacks.
- YMCA Summer Day Camp
For school age children up to 12 years old. Open Monday through Friday from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm. Activities include indoor & outdoor games, field trips, swimming, arts & crafts, skits, Play Park and special events. Children must be enrolled by the Friday before the session that they wish to attend.
Cost: YMCA members, $60.00 per week for the first child in a family and $57.00 per week for each additional child in the same family. For children that are not members, the cost is $84.00 per week for the first child and $81.00 per child for any additional children from the same family.
Day Camp Dates:
Session A - July 7-July 11, 2008
Session B - July 14-July 18, 2008
Session C - July 21-July 25, 2008
Contact: Day Camp Director, Roberta Jones at 646-6677.
- Here
We GROW Again Fundraising Campaign Update
Summer Safety Event held at YMCA
Published: Monday, June 23, 2008 By Lisa Houtchens, C-T
C-T Photo
 The Summer Safety Event at the Grand River Area Family YMCA
on Saturday, June 21, 2008 by Premier Eyecare Associates and Masonic Lodge No. 89 had a large turnout for the child identification program and eye scans.
The event identified 126 new children and updated the profiles of 18. One of the newly-identified children was Violet Leppin (above), 7 months, of Chillicothe, who received a digital finger print scan as part of the identification process. The event also offered children the chance for vision screening. There were 55 eye checks given by Premier Eyecare Associates.
Easter Egg Hunt 2008
 An estimated 300 children gathered in Simpson Park Saturday morning for the annual community Easter Egg Hunt.
Those participating were dressed warmly with temperatures only in the lower 40s.
The event is sponsored by the Chillicothe Parks and Recreation Department and the Grand River area Family
YMCA.
C-T Photo/Laura Schuler
NOTES FROM PAM:
LeAnn Polen is back! LeAnn Polen returns to take the reigns of our Summer Tennis Program. We will offer two 4 week sessions this summer. The first session will start June 2nd and conclude on June 26th. The second session will start on July 7th and conclude on July 31st. Classes range from beginners to advanced and are offered on a Monday-Wednesday or Tuesday-Thursday basis. Contact the YMCA for more details.
5th-6th Grade Basketball League: The YMCA will again be offering a basketball league for boys and girls entering the 5th-6th grades in the fall of 2008. Games will be on Tuesday nights beginning June 3rd and running through July 1st. Teams are guaranteed 6 games over the 5 weeks. Team rosters, player registration forms, as well as additional information is available by contacting me at the YMCA. (Team registrations only allowed. No individual player registrations will be accepted.)
FREE
FITNESS CLASSES FOR Y MEMBERS
We are now offering FREE land-based Fitness Classes to our
members.
Class sizes are limited.
C-T Photo/Laura Schuler 01
11 08
CAPTION: The Grand River Area Family YMCA's Welch Gymnasium was a busy place this (Friday) morning as toddlers and their parents converged for a Parents As Teachers playgroup field trip. The children were invited to play at different stations in the gymnasium as well as take advantage of the YMCA's Play Park. Refreshments were also offered to those attending.
C-T Photo/Butch Shaffer 01 12
08
CAPTION: Y Winners and Iddy Biddy Basketball at the Grand River Area Family YMCA began on
Saturday, January 12, 2008. Y Winners basketball is for students in grades 1 to 8 and Iddy Biddy Basketball is for children ages 4 to 6. Approximately 560 children are participating in the basketball programs this year. Games are held every Saturday at the YMCA for six weeks.
C-T Photo/Andrea Graves
Sixty-five youth participated in a “flag football mini camp”
September 12, 2007, at the Grand River Area Family YMCA. During the mini camp, youth involved in the YMCA's flag football program were taught on the fundamentals of the game by Chillicothe High School football coaching staff and some CHS players. The YMCA's flag football program is open to children ages kindergarten through fifth
grade.
Christian Outreach Programs
Backpack
Buddies - Press
Release July 17, 2008...
Building Strong Families
Events
- Call Genie for reservations as classes are limited to 10.
Every Thursday
evening from 6-8 p.m. Child care is available for Building Strong
Families events only. Sessions are FREE.
Youth Building Strong Families meets every Tuesday from 3:30 to 4:40 pm.
Mentor Training for Newly Enlisted Mentors
All prospective mentors (Adult Y-Pals) are required to participate in Mentor Training before they are assigned a youth. Sessions are held the 1st Thursday of every month. We meet in the Multipurpose room at the “Y” from 6:00-7:00 pm.
Healthy ‘n Fit
A weight Management Program for Children and Teens
Call Genie Amen
for Assessment Appointment.
NEEDED: Men
and women with a positive attitude willing to mentor boys and girls between the ages of 6 and 14. We have a waiting list
anxiously awaiting a Y-Pal. Call
Genie Amen
at 646-6677 today!
We also need
adults to transport children on Tuesdays to the YMCA for Y Club and 4H
Club. They will have a ride home.
Men and women
and college students for Summer Buddies.
If you are interested in being a candidate for the Christian
Outreach Committee, please email
Genie.
YMCA Y-Pals Schedule
Y-Club for Youth Y-Pals
Kids ages 6-14 that have applied to a Y-Pal or are currently a Y-Pal are welcome to attend Y-Club
which meets on the 1st & 3rd Tuesdays of each month. Diane Kerns
is the leader and has fun-filled learning activities for the kids. The sessions are free and refreshments are served.
LuckY-Clover 4-H CLUB meets
at the YMCA on the 2nd & 4th Tuesday of each month from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.
Y-Pal Calendar
- Y-Pals Night at the Mudcats Game
June 2, 2008 - For more information and tickets, contact Genie Amen, Y-PALS Coordinator, at
646-6677.
- Ragtime Outdoor Cinema-Simpson Park
June 12, 2008 - Y-Pals get free popcorn & soda. Contact Genie Amen, Y-PALS Coordinator, at
646-6677 for information & tickets.
- Cultural Fair-County Courthouse
June 21, 2008 - Authentic Indian Pow Wow & Lots more.
For more information, contact Genie Amen, Y-PALS Coordinator, at
646-6677.
C-T Photo Megan Neis
YMCA Has Increase in Membership This
Year
C-T article 01 09 07, Megan Neis
The Grand River Area Family YMCA has received many new members in 2007,
perhaps many people following up on those resolutions to shed a few extra
pounds this year. According to Dave Rogers, executive director of the YMCA, 70 people have
joined since the first day of the new year and 32 people signed up on New Year¹s Day.
Rogers reported that an increase in YMCA members at the beginning of a new
year is fairly usual. The local YMCA now has a total of 3,911 members. The YMCA is always looking for new members and according to Rogers, they
anticipate even more members for the Get Fit Challenge the YMCA is sponsoring with the Constitution-Tribune newspaper.
The Get Fit Challenge is a 12-week weight loss challenge and over 300 people
are participating in the joint effort between the newspaper and the YMCA. Participants are required to weigh-in at the YMCA each week and weekly
standings will be published in the newspaper. The challenge will continue until March 30 and the first place winner will receive $300 and a 1-year
membership to the YMCA, second place will receive $200, and third place will
receive a 1-year subscription to the YMCA.
The YMCA organization started in Chillicothe in 1989 but 2007 will be the
15th year for the YMCA building. The biggest change since 1992 when the doors first opened, has been in 1999 when the Browning Gymnasium was added,
along with a gymnastics center, activities center and weight room.
Third
Annual Summer Safety Event 2007
 Livingston County Sheriff's Department Deputy Rick Rinehart (left) fingerprints one of 263 children participating in the third annual Summer Safety Event Saturday at the Grand River Area Family YMCA. The Missouri Masonic Children's Foundation and Friendship Masonic Lodge No. 89 of Chillicothe offered a comprehensive child identification program free of charge and vision screenings were also offered. The identification program consists of digital photographs, digital fingerprints, child information and emergency contacts, dental bite impression and two laminated ID cards. The event was sponsored by Premier Eyecare Associates.
C-T Photo/Laura Schuler
Easter Egg Hunt 2007
 Winter coats, hats, scarves and mittens were the attire for Saturday's Easter egg hunt at Simpson Park as children ages 1-10 years rushed around collecting candy-filled eggs for their baskets. A total of 4,000 eggs were distributed for the hunt, with some containing dollar coins and messages announcing grand-prize winners in each age category. The temperature just before the 10 a.m. egg hunt was in the mid-20-s and a blustery wind made it feel much colder. The Easter egg hunt, which is sponsored annually by the Grand River Area Family YMCA and the Chillicothe Parks and Recreation Department, was initially scheduled for the week before but was postponed because of rain. This weekend was one of the coldest for this time of year, with the mercury sinking to 18 overnight Friday and 20 overnight Saturday.
C-T Photo/Catherine Stortz Ripley
Memorial for Marilyn
Altenderfer
February 5, 2007
The YMCA received a little
over $1,000 in memorial gifts in honor of Marilyn Algenderfer. The family
has requested that half the funds be used to support the YMCA Swim Team
and half toward the gymnastics program.
Sensenich Foundation
Donates New Lighting
October 17, 2006
The utility costs that the
YMCA paid in 2005 were $92,870. This is the cost to us for both natural
gas and electricity. Although this year isn't over yet, we're anticipating
paying over $104,000 in 2006 - a 12% increase. Fortunately, the Sensenich
Foundation gave the YMCA a $40,000 grant to change all the light fixtures
in the building (except those in the pool). New energy-efficient lights
should result in a savings of approximately $11,000 - a good start in
addressing our energy problems.
YMCA Receives
Partnership Grant Funding
Friday, July 28, 2006, C-T
The Grand River Family YMCA recently received notice from the Heartland Foundation that it will be receiving a “Healthy Partnerships” grant totaling $4,500 to be used during the coming fiscal year to promote health food choices.
According to Dave Rogers, executive director of the YMCA, reports that the funding will be used for individual programs to promote healthy food choices and prevent obesity amount children in the Chillicothe area.
“Healthy Partnerships” is an annual grant program of the St. Joseph-based Heartland Foundation which accepts applications for funding of community-based, innovative programs that target prevention and treatment of heart disease or asthma in northwest Missouri. These are competitive grants and the non-profit organizations that apply must be able to show that they have matching funds for all amounts requested.
The last “Healthy Partnerships” grant that was received in Chillicothe was a “project lean” grant for school-based healthy nutrition activities, which has been extended for another year through Livingston County C2000 Team and Chillicothe R-2 Schools.
According to Rogers, the current grant was developed by a nurse in New Jersey and provides individualized lesson plans, weight monitoring, exercise plans and instruction about health food options for the child and his or her parents. “Teaching children to make health food and exercise choices early in life will make them less likely to develop heart disease and asthma in the future,” said Rogers.
New
Membership Software Program
The Grand River Area
Family YMCA converted to a new membership
software program. This new program will track program registration,
membership information, building usage, fund-raising, financed and corporate
membership. The membership database program we had been using, which
was 14 years old, was not nearly as powerful as the new system.
One of the immediate
changes that Y members will see is that they will get a new membership
card. In the past we issued new cards every year. Now members will be
a permanent card. In the past, we've asked people to show their
membership card and/or sign in when they arrive. With the new system,
each card will have a bar code, and members can just run their card
under the scanner to enter the facility. To make it easier for people
to carry their cards with them, they'll have a choice of regular
wallet-sized Y cards or key tab card they can put on their key ring.
We hope to have the conversion to the new system done by the end of
April.
YMCA New Membership Cards
 Martin Greer, YMCA maintenance director, had his picture taken on March 10 at the YMCA for a new membership card. According to Dave Rogers, YMCA executive director, all of the YMCA's 4,125 members will have their pictures taken for new cards within the next few months. Once the photos are taken, members receive their new cards or key chain cards and the next time they visit the facility, members may present their cards to be scanned rather than going through the the current process of signing in. Rogers said that the new computerized system allows YMCA officials to check in people quickly and in large numbers.
C-T Photo by Laura Schuler 03
10 06
Easter Egg
Hunt in Simpson Park
April 10, 2006, C-T caption and
photo
The Easter Bunny was here! Four-thousand eggs. Three hundred children. Three minutes. It didn't take long on a chilly morning for youngsters between the ages of
 one and eight years to gather up all of the eggs left behind for the annual Easter Egg Hunt at Simpson Park on Saturday. If everything was equally divided using these figures provided by the Chillicothe Parks and Recreation Department, which sponsors the hunt each year with the Grand River Area Family YMCA, each child would have collected a total of 13.3 eggs at a rate of 4.4 eggs per minute. Of course, some children, such as Spencer Shira (left), the 3-year-old son of Jana and Kevin Shira, of Chillicothe, weren't too concerned about quantity while more veteran egg-hunters easily exceeded the average. Through the support of the local banks and Hy-Vee Food Store, some eggs contained special prizes and a grand prize egg for each division was awarded.
C-T Photos / Catherine Stortz Ripley
Hedrick Foundation
Donates $10,000 to Grand River Area Family YMCA
Wednesday, January 4, 2006 The Hedrick Foundation recently made a $10,000 donation to the Grand River Area Family YMCA in memory and appreciation of Walter T. Miller who served as a dedicated member of the foundation board for over 25 years.
Specifically, the money is directed to the endowment fund of the YMCA which will help to insure the financial security and maintenance of the YMCA facility.
Miller died in June 2005 and as a Hedrick Foundation board member, encouraged the foundation to invest in the purchase of the YMCA land and its indoor swimming pool.
 June 6, 2006 – Happy 162nd Birthday YMCA
Founder George William’s Voice Link Below
To celebrate the YMCA’s birthday, June 6th, 1844,
a 6-minute web streamed movie briefly reviews the YMCA founding and amazingly from across 100+ years of time,
you actually hear George William’s voice that had been recorded giving a charge to the YMCA workers of the USA on the 50th anniversary.
Click
on this link and it should automatically stream....
YMCA
Founder George William's Voice from 1894 For
more on the YMCA Mission, visit www.ymcamission.com/.
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 The Grand River Area Family YMCA's Welch Gymnasium was a busy place
as toddlers and their parents converged for a Parents As Teachers playgroup field trip. The children were invited to play at different stations in the gymnasium as well as take advantage of the YMCA's Play Park. Refreshments were also offered to those attending.
C-T Photo/Laura Schuler
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 On
Saturday, April 9, Hedrick Medical Center sponsored the Annual Health Fair
at the YMCA from 8-11 a.m.
More than 400 people
attended the fair, which included glaucoma screenings, cholesterol
information, blood glucose checks, pulse oximetry, blood pressure checks
and anemia screenings. Sherry Weldon, HMC Community Wellness Director,
organized the fair. About 100 people had their bones scanned free of
charge. C-T Photo
Catherine Stortz-Ripley
4th
Celebrity Waiters Dinner April 21, 2006
3rd
Annual Celebrity Waiters Dinner May 7, 2004
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Sometimes the YMCA is the location for or is indirectly involved with events sponsored by other organizations. Here are some upcoming events we think might be of some interest to Y members.
Pre-School
Music Class
Contact Pam Peetz for more information.
Internet Users
Greenhills Telecommunications sponsors an internet users informational meeting on the second Monday of each month during the school year at the YMCA.
This is free and open to the public; you need not be a member of the Y. Glenda at
Green Hills has more info—800-846-3426.
Sponsorship
Opportunity
The YMCA has a limited number of "core value" banner and
program guide sponsorships available for your company!
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Banner
Facts: Banners are 8'x3' heavy-duty vinyl in two bright
colors. They hang all year in out south Welch gymnasium.
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Program
Guide: For an additional fee, you can sponsor our program
guide, which goes to area households six times annually.
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Facts
to Consider: Over 4,300 individuals belong to the YMCA.
The YMCA is open 103 hours each week. The 10 Banner
Sponsorships are sold on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Please contact
Dave Rogers with any questions.
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Visit
the North Central Missouri YMCA in Brookfield!
Listen to KCHI Radio (103.9 FM) for Y-Talk with Dave
Rogers at 9:30 a.m. each Monday. Lisa Graves is now featured on Highlighting the
"C" in YMCA each Tuesday morning at 10:30 a.m. on KULH (105.9)
| Sally Welch Young
Memorial Fund Under the direction of Bill and Inger Young and Abby Hayo, this fund
enabled
us to create an exciting new activity
center for YMCA children, teens, and families. Come check out the room, complete with
new paint, wall-to-wall custom cabinets, a great lounge pit, colorful flooring and great
new games.
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Kids - Come visit the play park.
The YMCA provides an indoor play park area for children ages 3 to 10. An attendant is on
duty Monday through Friday from 5 to 8 p.m. and on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 12 noon. During
these hours, parents may take their children to the play park while they exercise. During
other hours, adult Y members (over 18) may check out the key to the play park at the front
desk, but must stay to supervise their children.
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