A college professor held a new $20 bill up and said who wants this? Obviously, hands went up in the room. Then he took the new $20, smashed it up in his hand, and said who wants the bill now? Again, hands went up and then he dropped the bill on the floor and smashed it with his shoe. Again, he asked who wants it? Once again, students put up their hands. He said this bill is your life and no matter how much stuff happens in your life, God knows and you should know “You are Worthy”! Have a great day and continue your life’s journey!

--Mike Lieber, Chapter Spiritual Leader

“Connie, Come Join Us…”

I was thinking about what to write in my first letter to our Chambers Chapter members as the incoming President when my mind took me back to when I first attended a YMCA Alumni reunion.

The phone call came around 5 years after I retired from the Y to begin working with a national fundraising firm and while developing my own business. It was Bill Cumler, former CEO of the Canton Area YMCA. My friend, supporter, and occasional nemesis. (Photo below).

He said the local YMCA retirees’ group was meeting for the day for a canal boat ride, to browse the historic shops and would finish the day with an early dinner at the Wearhouse Steak N’ Stein restaurant in Rosco Village, Coshocton, Ohio.

Bill knew it was close to where I lived so it would be a good first time to meet the group and, I wouldn’t have ANY excuse to not show up because it was nearby. Said in his usual manner, which I oddly miss.

I asked him to tell me a bit about the group and he began rattling off names of several YMCA friends and acquaintances I knew, and others I had heard about from the time I started as a volunteer, then the first full time female program/physical/aquatics director at the Ross County Y. Ten years later, I moved on to the Middletown Y and then after four years I headed to my final association, the YMCA of Central Stark County for another fifteen years.

Because I had worked in three quadrants of Ohio, I knew many of the alumni members he named and had shared experiences with them at APD, program schools, Aquatic schools, CDP, NAYDO, Great Lakes Leaders School, at cluster meetings, as a trainer for Y-USA and just socially, as peers became friends. So, I drove to Roscoe Village that morning to see what this group was like, and to see if I might fit in. 

Because everyone there had either worked for YMCAs or volunteered with their spouses that worked for Ys, it was a fun, smart and sometimes borderline rowdy bunch. After the canal boat ride and touring of the visitor’s center, we broke up as we walked downtown. Being a group of Y folks, everyone was friendly and shared tons of stories about experiences that resonated with all of us. We wandered around the village an hour or so. I had joined a few folks taking in the artisan’s shops and got sidetracked at the Blacksmith (no surprise) where I wanted something made and found my group had wandered off while I waited.

I realized it was the time scheduled for the meal, so I headed toward the restaurant thinking about what wonderful people I had met through the Y, and what a nice bunch these old and new friends were.  As I walked toward the front door, I heard Dave Patterson yell. “Connie we’re over here in a courtyard by the pavilion.” 

I kept walking and found an entrance area that led to the outdoor seating area. I stopped and looked for the group among the other diners unsure where to go when Dale Packer shot his arm up and said, “Connie, come join us.” And I did.

Won’t you please join me and our other YMCA Alumni members as we gather at the Alumni reunions, every spring and fall? Join us in volunteering for or supporting one of our many projects such as the National Service Project to build tiny homes and program centers at the YMCA of the Seven Council Fires on the Sioux Reservation in South Dakota.

Or serve on a committee planning one of our events. Take a leadership role or be a committee member for World Service or the Y Service Fund for helping Y retirees financially in times of crisis. Step out and commit to serve an international YMCA by using your Y experience via ISC. We want you to truly join us. As you read the articles by our committee chairs, please think about where you can serve and connect. We’d love to have you.

Please ask a former Y employee you know and your spouse if you are married, to come along with you to join in the fun as we Connect, Travel and Serve. And if you have just become a YMCA Alumni member, know you are welcome and among friends. I know the words and they mean a lot. Come join us.

Connie Clark

Chambers YMCA Alumni Chapter President

Birthday Wishes go out to these members that will mark another “Annual Milestone” before our next newsletter.

March

Adam Shilling ~ 1 * Wendy Johnston ~ 3 * Lorie Schur ~ 3 * Barry Gordon ~ 4

Bonnie Saunders ~ 5 * Drew Gilbert ~ 12 * Cinda Orr ~ 12 * John Zimmermann ~ 13

Wayne Daggs ~ 15 * Kathy Doyle ~ 15 * Phyllis Carney ~ 18 * Sue Seiter ~ 29

April

Wanda Farrar ~ 8 * Sue Denzer ~ 9 * Kathy Kohl ~ 10 * Marla Lieber ~ 12 * Jan Nees ~ 13

Paul Waldsmith ~ 14 * Dianne Clark ~ 17 * Nancy Schlatter ~ 17 * Lowell Nees ~ 18

Ginger O’Connor ~ 20 * Sue Smith ~ 24 * Jim Gilchrist ~ 29 * Diana Semesberger ~ 30

May

Ria D’Avria ~ 1 * Cristen Gilbert ~ 3 * Joe Hermann ~ 5 * Bob Doyle ~ 7 * Peggy Ottke ~ 9

Paul Weber ~ 9 * Penni Bostelman ~ 11 * Norma Fortune ~ 12 * Joan Lloyd ~ 12

Patrick Schur ~ 16 * Cheryl Fullmer ~ 17 * Bob Denzer ~ 22 * John Carney ~ 23

Mike Lieber ~ 30

Please welcome our most recent members to join the Chambers Chapter of YMCA Alumni.

Cinda and Robert Orr ~ Dover, OH

On Top…

Our Chambers Chapter is now the largest of the 17 Chapters that make up YMCA Alumni across the country. Weighing in at 202 members,our Chapter recently closed out the 2023 Membership Renewal effort with a record-setting 93 percent Retention Rate. Let’s celebrate at the Spring Reunion in May.

Treasurer's Report: John Mack

As of 3/1/2023, our bank balance is $4,599.11 with no outstanding bills.

The new 2023 fundraising campaign for our National Service Project in partnership withthe YMCA of Seven Council Fires to raise an additional $250,000 is off and running. Thus far, nationally we have raised over $120,000 with only a few weeks remaining in the membership portion of the effort.. 

Many of us have extended our pledge in the Chapter and Chambers has close to $5,000 pledged or given to date. Thank you, Chapter members, for your support. One of our new members told me that she is very pleased with our project and has given $1,000 toward this year’s goal. 

Please consider giving a new gift or extending your pledge to this most important campaign. We have one tiny home’s walls up and three more to hopefully get up this year. 

The total number of Tiny Home volunteers for the eight waves (May-4 and September-4) is currently over 40 individuals. Come on Chambers!!We need to get some additional volunteers to go to South Dakota to see and feel the Tiny Home phenomena. 

Thanks Tony and Sally Delisio and Wayne Urhig for volunteering this year for the YMCA of the Seven Council Fires. Remember, no construction experience is needed and there are many other jobs that are NOT Construction-related for you if building is not your thing. If you are interested in volunteering or have questions about the project, please contact me, Tony Delisio or any of our Executive Committee. Let’s Go!

International Service Corps (ISC), a program of YMCA Alumni, is preparing to announce multiple international

opportunities for volunteer service in April. Those who are interested in volunteering for projects in

2023 and 2024 should submit an application now. “

We plan to announce eight new projects in the coming weeks and will be looking for volunteers whose skill sets match specific administrative and program needs,” says Wayne Uhrig, ISC chair (photo). There are two in YMCA Europe, and six in Latin America/Caribbean.

The brief two-page application, located on the YMCA Alumni website, will be the starting point to determine where and when the volunteer would like to serve. Once a match is made, the host YMCA secures a host family where the volunteer will stay. The volunteer and the host YMCA collaborate to determine the itinerary and project timeline. ISC covers the cost of travel to and from the host county.

For those who would like to provide service to ISC, but are no longer able to travel, there are opportunities to serve on ISC committees that develop and maintain contacts with international YMCAs or recruit and review volunteer applicants. Volunteers may also serve as an on-line consultants or program specialists to a host country. To serve in this capacity, email Wayne Uhrig at

or call (740) 398-2830.

I am so thankful for each of you and your giving to EAF this year. EAF donations nationally are $69,767 to date. We have had a total of 18 givers to the Fund with a total of $3,593 from our chapter. 

There is still time to give and I am asking each of us to give to this worthwhile endeavor. The fund has awarded $179,761 in grants this year. Some 83 $1,000 grants were given to Y colleagues impacted by the recent Florida hurricane. 

The Chambers Chapter is second only to the Weatherford chapter in total giving nationwide. Nancy and I would really like to see those who have given to increase their amount due to recent hardships and for those who have not given, to give now. 

You will never know how much a gift, no matter the amount, can impact our Alumni's lives. Please send checks to EAF-YUSA, 101 N. Wacker Dr., Chicago, IL 60606 or you may contribute securely on-line by clicking the blue button below. Remember to designate your gift to our local William Chambers Chapter. Have a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year!

 -- Steve and Nancy Gunn

June 24 with "The Beast" and other old friends

We have been invited to join the Hoosier-Buell YMCA for a special summer get-together June 24. Here are the details:Join the Hooiser-Buell YMCA Alumni Chapter at the Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre, 9301 N. Michigan Road, Indianapolis for this Disney Classic. (photo above).

Buffet opens at 10:45 a.m. and closes at 12:30 p.m. with curtain time at 1 p.m. Buffet dinner includes coffee, tea and lemonade. Full bar services and gourmet desserts are available for an additional fee.

Send your payment and reservation to Terry Jones at 2309 Meadow Way, Anderson, IN 46012 by May 1. We have very good reserved seats in the blue section at a reduced rate of $70 per person. Make your check payable to Hoosier-Buell YMCA Alumni Chapter. This show will likely be sold out so get your reservations in ASAP. 

Make your own hotel accommodations, if needed. Our chapter will offer a post gathering event at another location for a one-hour sharing following the performance. Chapter officers will inform those beforehand who make reservations.

September 5, 6, 7 - Toledo, Ohio

More details to follow:

Tuesday, September 5

·     lunch at Oregon Inn, with optional Golf at Maumee Bay State Park Golf Course or games and fellowship at the lodge or walking on Nature Preserve boardwalk

·     Dinner catered at Maumee Bay State Park Lodge

·     Speaker TBA

·     Socializing and Fellowship

Wednesday, September 6:

·     National Museum of the Great Lakes

·     Lunch: Tony Pacos

·     Tour USS James M. Schoonmaker Laker Museum Ship & The Tug Ohio

·     Optional River Walk

·     Dinner cruise aboard the MV Sandpiper

Thursday, September 7:

·     Tour of Fort Meigs

·     Farewell lunch at Ye Olde Durty Bird

YMCA World Service: Staying strong and stable in an unstable world.

YMCA of the USA World Service is a strong partner during turbulent times, strengthening YMCAs in more than 60 countries. I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to every individual, family and organization who contributed to YMCA World Service this past year.

Thanks to your dedicated support, the William S. Chambers Chapter contributed $4,380 from 23 donors to YMCA World Service in 2022. Your generosity was part of the $272,893 contributed by YMCA Alumni Chapters to YMCA World Service and part of more than $3.58 million total raised for World Service in 2022 to support the life-changing work of YMCAs across the globe.

More than $1.8 million was raised in response to the humanitarian crisis caused by the war in Ukraine. YMCAs throughout Ukraine and Europe are supporting internally displaced families and refugees with immediate needs and planning for their mid and long-term needs. The YMCA has served more than 80,000 people, mainly women and children, since the war began in February, 2022.     

We hope that you will join us in supporting World Service again this year. Your gift, no matter the size, is important and creates positive change. You will be receiving your Annual World Service Appeal in the mail soon or you can contribute online. If you have any questions about YMCA World Service, please feel free to email me call me at (614) 581-8417 or email me at tdelisio58@gmail.com.

Thank you for Changing the World for Good!

The namesake of the Chambers Chapter, William S. Chambers (Bill), was born in Mifflinberg, Pennsylvania on May 10, 1891.  He graduated from Park College in Missouri in 1913. At Park College he tied the then world’s record in the 100-yard dash. He entered YMCA work in 1914 at the North Larrabee Y in Chicago.

Bill became City Wide Boys Work Secretary in Minneapolis in 1917. (Photo left circa the early 1900s at the Minneapolis YMCA). It was in this city in 1991 that Bob Horrocks, long-time Secretary-Treasurer of our chapter, first met Bill as a member of a neighborhood Boys Club. Bob defined the work and labors of his friend: “I’ve never known a man to show such genuine love for his friends and their families. He had a knack of saying just the right word to make them feel good.”

Mr. Chambers became Boys Work Secretary on the Ohio State staff in 1926. His work and contacts were legendary, especially those who attended periods at Camp Nelson Dodd. In 1936, he was invited to become executive of the new Northwest Area YMCA. In 1942 he returned to Ohio as Executive, retiring in 1953. Cora Weber, long his secretary, said of him, “By personal service and simple acts of kindness, he gave generously of himself – a creative leader with an enthusiasm that was contagious, that indispensable sense of humor, a Christian spirit which was so much a part of him, and a quality to make people like and under-stand themselves a little better.”

Bill served as executive of the Employed Officers Alliance from 1953-1956. He taught courses at George Williams College, Lewis and Clark College and Howard University. In 1965-67, he aided the McLean, Virginia YMCA in maintaining its status, and then returned to Columbus.

The chapter was named for Bill back in October 1971. He died May 12, 1973.  

(Information received from the Kautz Family YMCA Archives at the University of Minnesota.)