Y holds ribbon cutting for expansion

"Y" holds ribbon cutting for expansion
The Register Herald
by Eddie Mowen, Editor

February 9, 2010 - What started as a dream some 18 years ago, a dream to give kids in Preble County something to do, has turned out bigger than could ever have been imagined.

Last week, the Preble County YMCA, which opened 7 years ago, celebrated its expansion of a 2,000 square foot addition to the fitness center, more office and meeting space - and it nearly tripled the size of its nursery.

"This is a wonderful facility for this community, for Preble County as a whole. It provides services to our youth," said Jim Simon, Chairman, Preble County YMCA Board of Directors. "The (Preble County) Youth Foundation has made a big commitment to this facility and obviously the community is grateful to the Youth Foundation for it. It was a community effort. The community came together to do this"

It has all been made possible by several groups partnering, led by the efforts of Judge Bill Dues and the Preble County Youth Foundation.

"Eighteen years ago a small group of people got together and decided to try to develop an organization whose sole purpose was to develop programs and activities for kids in Preble County so they would have something to do and maybe think about having a teen center," Dues told those gathered at the celebration last Wednesday, Feb. 3. "Look at what we have today because of that dream. It's phenomenal."

The youth foundation has partnered with Y, Kettering Medical Center and Sinclair Community College to provide the residents of the county a place to grow.

"About 7 1/2 years ago we hoped this would be a success and that it would serve the community, and that the community would accept it," Dues said. "Look around at what we have. We've got a facility that I'm not sure is second to any in the Miami Valley. It gives this community a better chance to do more things."

Tim Helm, CEO, YMCA of Greater Dayton, said by bringing multiple partners together, more can get accomplished than what individuals can.

"This Y is the living embodiment of that philosophy of what we've done. By working together we've been able to create something much larger, much more effective and efficient, than any of us could do on our own," he said.

Helm mentioned a proverb he's adopted - "If you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together."

The addition of the fitness center allowed for 22 new pieces of equipment, and the nursery went from under 1,000 square feet to over 2,700.

"Our community loves this YMCA. Everybody here today has played a role in making our YMCA the special place that it is," said Josh Haynes, Executive Director of the PC YMCA. "We're as busy as we've ever been. We're all very excited about this expansion project and it will definitely help us better meet the needs of our members in our community."

Steve Cobb, Chairman, YMCA of Greater Dayton Board of Directors, said it's a perfect match for the community.

"The YMCA is great for Eaton, Ohio and Preble County- and Eaton, Ohio and Preble County are great for the YMCA."

And the dreams keep getting bigger.

"The dreams that we had 18 years ago have been bigger than we ever thought," Dues said. "The dreams that we had 7 1/2 years ago have been bigger than we ever thought would come true."