'Inevitable' YMCA Opens, 3 times
Many Contributors Honored for $6.2 million Recreation Facility

The Corydon Democrat

Wednesday, July 7, 2004

The minds, bodies and spirits of hundreds of people who worked hard to make the YMCA of Harrison County a reality will not soon forget the Fourth of July weekend. Essentially, they had three grand openings in three days:

First was the Donor Recognition Celebration Thursday night, second was Charter Members Day, beginning at 5 a.m. Friday (some people were there at 4:45 a.m.), and third, the grand opening for members Saturday morning at 9. An estimated 750 to 800 people were there on both Friday and Saturday.

Pastor Mike Clark of the Community of Hope Nazarene Church in Corydon said in his invocation at the sun-splashed Saturday morning program that the YMCA will be "a shining light for recreation and for the glory of God."

YMCA President Jerry Reinhardt (left) and fund-raiser chair Pam Bennett Martin (dark glasses) open the doors on the new YMCA of Harrison County Saturday morning. Others are, from left, Holly Strange, Laurie Eckart, Whitney Leatherbury, Johnny Dukes and Jerry Collins, the construction coordinator. (Photos by Randy West)
Dale Packer of Lexington, Ky., a consultant with the YMCA of the USA, congratulated the local leaders, all volunteers at first. He said some groups take "many, many years" to start a YMCA, and "a few, like yours, are done very fast."

An informal group of 20 people met less than four years ago to talk about the possibility of building an indoor pool for the community. That group eventually became the YMCA of Harrison County. Packer said there are now 55 corporate YMCAs in Indiana and 2,575 throughout the USA, with 18.9 million members, including 9.3 million under the age of 18.

The YMCA of Harrison County now has 2,600 members.

After several speeches Saturday morning, YMCA board president Jerry Reinhardt and fund-raiser extraordinaire Pam Bennett Martin opened the doors and invited the audience to tour the $6.2 million building located in a large field overlooking Big Indian Creek off S.R. 337 in Corydon.

The 40,000-square-foot building has a six-lane indoor pool, a heated therapy pool, a gym (that can convert to two basketball or volleyball courts side-by-side or one full-length court); an indoor walking/running track that circles the gym; a Fitness Center with much more space for free weights, six treadmills and many new pieces of exercise equipment; a child-care center; two large multi-purpose rooms with a movable wall in between; locker rooms; foyer; pool observation area, and offices.

Next to the Y is the 40-acre Gov. Frank O'Bannon Park, where, next summer, the Y will have 20 acres for soccer fields and the Friends of Harrison County Youth will have 20 acres for baseball and softball diamonds.

At Saturday's grand opening, Mark Shireman, president of the James L. Shireman Co., handed out the compliments like an Oscar winner at the Academy Awards. He said his family company built what architect Joe Mrak and the YMCA board wanted on a "very frugal budget." He credited YMCA Executive Director Catherine Turcotte for being "a great boss, creative and focused." He said building coordinator Jerry Collins of Carefree, who had just completed another YMCA project in Brown County, was the right man for the job.

Visitors inspect the Fitness Center, which has many new pieces of exercise and weight-lifting equipment.
Borrowing a line from Lee Ann Womack's hit song, "I Hope You Dance," Shireman said you can choose to dance or you can sit it out. "I'm glad," he said, "that this community decided to dance."

At $2.5 million, the Harrison County Community Foundation was the biggest contributor to the YMCA project. Foundation president Gordon Pendleton, who has been in banking for 39 years, said he's seen a lot of dreams come and go. As a bank president, he's had to decide whether people who sought loans had "a great idea or were just whistling Dixie." At first, he admitted, he thought the indoor pool and also the Moose Lodge in Corydon (now thriving with 400 members) were not good ideas.

Pendleton said the YMCA is the result of dreams and a lot of hard work. He quoted many famous people on the subject of dreams, including actor Christopher ("Superman") Reeve: "So many of our dreams at first seem impossible, then they seem improbable, and then we summon up our will, and they soon become inevitable."

And remembering the Rev. Martin Luther King, who said in a famous speech, "I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit together at the table of brotherhood." Pendleton added: "We must make sure that these facilities and the programs that we offer are open to all."

They are.

Turcotte was cited Saturday for her leadership and unflagging enthusiasm. She got her third standing ovation of the weekend.

Three years ago, she said, the Y had no employees. Everyone involved was a volunteer. Two years ago, there were two employees; a year ago, it had grown to 30. Now there are 70.

"What a wonderful team God and the YMCA have assembled," she said. She introduced the department heads and their staffs, and then Reinhardt and Martin opened the doors for everyone to step inside to see live demonstrations in each department.

"The amount of equipment, the variety of machines available for this size facility is just amazing to me," said Harrison County Commissioner J.R. Eckart, who recently visited the YMCA in Fishers, Ind. That facility is considered top of the line. "This reminds me of the Fishers Y," he said.

Reinhardt said, "The thing that boggles my mind is how people grabbed ahold of this. When the (temporary) Fitness Center opened, I thought maybe 400 people would sign up for it, but three times that many came, not just the weight lifters and bodybuilders, but 80-year-old grandmas doing rehab and high school athletes trying to get in shape. It's amazing the wide variety of people who will use this facility. That's what it's all about: serving all the realms of the population."

-- Pam Bennett Martin chaired the campaign cabinet that raised several million dollars. The members are Edsel and Betty Byrd, Fred Cammack, Sam and Becky Eckart, Jim Hodge, Dave Limeberry, Jane Reiman, Gary and Laura Roberson, Bill and Joy Taylor, Bob and Margaret Hays Walker, and David Whittington.

At donor night, Martin recognized the major contributors and read their "words of wisdom" about success that are now framed and hung around the YMCA. The series has a "Success — Pass It On" motif.

--The major donors who were recognized before a large crowd in the gym are:

Harrison County Community Foundation, $2.5 million

Paul Ogle Foundation, $1 million

Kathy and Dennis Jenkins gave 15 acres appraised at $520,000

First Harrison Bank, $135,000

Community First Bank, $125,000

Caesars Indiana, $100,000

Tyson Foods, $50,000

Lucas Oil Corp., $50,000

Earl Book Carriage Ford, $40,000

Monroe Shine CPAs, $40,000

James L. Shireman Inc., $40,000

-- Also at donor night, Reinhardt said there were three important dates in the short, happy history of the YMCA:

1. Aug. 9, 2000. Twenty people attended the first meeting at Harrison County Public Library to talk about building an indoor pool. The 20 were: Ty Adams, Tuula Van Gaasbeek, Turcotte, Karen Elliott, Cynthia, Ben, Adria and Janelle Nassim, Jennifer Wiseman, Holly Strange, Sharon McKiever, Ray and Jo Ann Saylor, Laurie Eckart, Steve Gilliland, Vi Eckart, Mogwedell Norman, Nancy Rosenbaum, Linda Runden and Jill Robertson.

"These people started this thing," Reinhardt said. "We would not be here tonight if it weren't for them."

2. Feb. 6, 2001. The group voted unanimously to affiliate with the YMCA of the USA. At that point, they had $548.48 in their bank account.

3. March 11, 2002. The board selected Turcotte to be executive director.

"There's one other success story," said Reinhardt, asking Turcotte to come forward so she could be officially recognized and appreciated. She said she was unprepared for this but thanked everyone. "It has been a privilege to serve," she said. "I was just one of the people in the office."

Turcotte and two employees, Wayne Grimsley and Don King, were at the Y Friday morning at 4:45 to get ready for the Charter Members Day opening. First in line at 5 a.m. was Eric Coakley of Payneville, Ky., and Bill Taylor of Corydon was second and first in the pool, just ahead of Wilfred (Cousin Willie) Sieg.

The guest speaker at the Donor Recognition Celebration was Dr. Kenneth L. Gladish of Chicago, national executive director and chief executive officer of the YMCA. He said the people who helped build the YMCA were true heroes. He said heroes link their lives up to a great cause, are unselfish, humble, active and trustworthy.

-- The YMCA's board of directors includes: Katie Butt, Chris Byrd, Laurie Eckart, Peggy Fluhr, John Gonzaba, Jim Hodge, Jeremy Kirkham, David Limeberry, Gena Lyell, Pam Bennett Martin, Mogwedell Norman, Christine Pendleton, Jerry Reinhardt, Leslie Robertson, Kevin Russel, Doug Stone, Holly Strange, Chris Timberlake, Pat Timberlake, Bob Walker and David Whittington.

Former board members include: Ty Adams, John Evans, Brian Fogle, Sharon McKiever, Cynthia Nassim, Charlie Phillips, Kristi Pozza, Jeff Reber, Jill Robinson, Peggy Saylor, Ray Saylor, Steve Seelye, Doug Sellers, Margaret Shain, Jane Stewart, Tina Thomas, Catherine Turcotte, Tuula Van Gaasbeek and Wylie Zeigler.