1-19-2012

Celebration Bell at the Southeast YMCA

RING MY BELL!

I hope you have seen the bell in the Southeast YMCA lobby. It is hanging on the wall right across from the lobby restroom. This is our celebration bell, it is for member to ring who had a good or great experience at the YMCA that day or for our new members to ring to celebrate becoming part of our YMCA family. It has been ringing lots in the past few days.

It is an exciting time, over 200 new people and families have joined our YMCA in the past few days. We are very excited to welcome these new people to our facility. I hope all our long time family members can help the staff make our new “adoptees” feel welcome and help them be successful. We have about 10 of our members volunteering to serve as “New Member Ambassadors” but I hope all of us will try to be ambassadors of our YMCA.

With this time of year comes some additional challenges, I know parking is not always as convenient as we would like. In fact many of us are having to park in the back lot or even in the lot for Robben’s Roost and Hall’s that is connected to our lot in the back. Please remember we have golf carts running from 4:30pm – 8:30pm M – Th nights to bring you around to the front door and take you back to your car, also they provide some extra supervision in our parking lot. If you ever need assistance getting to your car or want someone to walk out with you please contact or front desk and we will help you.

Thank you for visiting the YMCA blog and I hope we give you lots of reasons to “Ring the Bell”! Have a blessed day.

1-17-2012

Thank you for visiting the Southeast Family YMCA Blog. I am so pleased that you are interested in what is happening at your YMCA.

The golf cart shuttle service is up and running now and I am very pleased with the success so far. That shuttle runs on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights from 4:30pm – 8:30pm. On our busy nights you might have to park on the side or back lot and we run the courtesy shuttle to bring you to the front door. People have said to me “this is a YMCA, can’t folks just walk?” Yes, people can walk, the shuttle is not about saving people steps, it is about so much more. Many of our members who visit in the evening are parents of small children, getting a couple of small children out of the car and into the YMCA can be an adventure on great days. But do it on a 30 degree day when you have to park farther from the front door and that becomes a monumental challenge, if we can put that parent and kids on the golf cart and get them to the door and out of the cold a bit sooner, then I feel good about it. Also, some people feel a bit more secure with the carts running around the lot and picking up people, in the quieter, less busy back lots. Again, if making people feel safe parking in those lots helps them continue to visit our YMCA and accomplish their goals then it was well worth doing. It is easy to look at the golf cart patrol and scoff at doing that at a “workout” place. But please realize we are doing it for reasons we believe are important and will help create an environment to retain more members.

We will have a video crew here on February 2nd filming for a video tour of the YMCA that will go on the web. We will have signage posted so nobody is surprised when they show up that night.

Remember that today and tomorrow are the final days to join the YMCA and avoid the joining fee. If you know someone who needs the SE YMCA please encourage them to get enrolled today!

Have a blessed day!

1-3-2012

Wow I must say it seems strange to be typing 2012 as part of the date. We are looking forward to expanding our family at the Southeast YMCA again in 2012. In 2011 the Southeast Family YMCA grew by over 200 member units, the most of any YMCA in Louisville. Thank you to everyone who made that growth and success possible.

I wanted to let you know about a few things that are going on at the Southeast YMCA as we begin 2012.

 Beginning on January 9th we will have two golf carts driving through the parking lots in the front and back of the building. You are welcome to catch a ride to the door or back to your car. We know that it is cold out there and sometimes if you park in the back lot or in the youth sports lot it is a bit of a hike in the cold weather to our door, the golf cart will not be any warmer but it will get you out of the cold a bit quicker. They will run 4:30pm – 8:30pm Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights.

 The new group exercise schedule and aquatic schedule begin on January 9, 2012. Here is a link to our schedule page where the current schedules are displayed and the new ones will be shortly:

 Please note we have changed the hours for Kid zone and the Sunshine room, the new hours are:

Sunshine Room: Ages: 6 weeks-4 years (infants less than 6 months have a 2 hour time limit)

Monday-Friday 8:45 am – 12:00 pm
Monday-Thursday 4:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Friday 4:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Saturday 9:00 am – 2:00 pm
Sunday 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm

Kid Zone Ages: 5-12 years

Monday-Thursday 4:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Friday 4:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Saturday 9:00 am – 2:00 pm
Sunday 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm

**Open 8:45 am – 12:00 pm when JCPS students are out of school, please call and check on days when school is closed due to inclement weather

 If you want to keep up to date on happenings at the Southeast YMCA please consider signing up for text alerts from the YMCA, you can visit the following web link to enroll:

Thank you for being part of the Southeast Family YMCA, we appreciate that you have chosen to be our member. You can contact any of the following with questions, comments, needs, concerns or comments.

Tom Whortan, Executive Director twhortan@ymcalouisville.org
Paul McKim, Membership Director pmckim@ymcalouisville.org
Karen Averill, Member Retention Director kaverill@ymcalouisville.org
Juli Gibson, Family Program Director jgibson@ymcalouisville.org
Nicole Dean, Wellness Director ndean@ymcalouisville.org
Bob Mayberry, Building and Grounds Director bmayberry@ymcalouisville.org

Thank you for visiting the Southeast Family YMCA Blog and have a blessed day!

12-26-2011

Well Christmas has come and gone, it seems odd to realize that 2011 is almost behind us. We are well underway with our 2012 prep work and are expecting an exciting year. Here are a few things you should know about:

1. Beginning on January 9th we will have two golf carts taking members to and from their cars in the back parking lot areas. The golf cart shuttles will run from 4:30 – 8:30pm Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights. The beginning of the year is a busy time and we want our members to be able to use the back parking area and still be able to access the YMCA easily and without having to walk all the way around in the cold weather. Keep an eye out for the carts and flag one down if you need a ride.
2. We have some new lockers in the men’s adult locker room, these lockers are large enough to put something in that is on a coat hanger and still close the door, we hope you enjoy these new lockers.
3. The new group exercise schedule will go into effect on January 9th as well, just a few changes and additions, we hope you continue to enjoy the classes.

Please check back for more information as it becomes available.

12-5-2011

It is an interesting time at the Southeast YMCA. Plenty of stuff to mention at this time:

1. We are getting underway with some minor facility upgrades and repairs this week. We are replacing the flooring in the wellness education room, The Center and Women’s Family Locker Room. We will be replacing some lockers in both the Women’s family locker room and the Men’s Adult Locker room.
2. The Center is now open. As we continue to experiment and attempt to find the right way to serve our younger members we have changed the ages and structure for what used to be the Teen Center. The ages for that space are now 10-15 years of age and we will have a staff person supervising that area until 8:30pm each evening. It should be a great additional option for our “tweens”.
3. January is right around the corner and with it we hope to be bringing many new folks to the YMCA. With that in mind I know parking will become an issue. This year we will be offering a golf cart shuttle Monday – Thursday evenings from 4:30pm – 8:30pm. This will allow our members to park in the back lot or Robben’s Roost Lot without having to walk in the cold all the way around to the front of the building, you can catch a ride on the golf cart.

There are many more things happening at the Southeast YMCA so keep an eye on the blog or our website so you know what is going on. Thank you for visiting our blog and have a blessed day!

Happy Halloween

Welcome to the Halloween edition of the SE YMCA Blog. Thank you for joining us online today. On a personal note it was very gratifying to have my daughter here at the YMCA volunteering on Saturday as she continues to demonstrate a high level dedication and character as a YMCA volunteer. I also got to attend tryouts for Kentucky ODP (Olympic Development Program) with my son who is turning out to be quite the young athlete. I continue to be obnoxiously blessed with my children.
If you visit the YMCA today you are sure to see a few staff that have chosen to show up in costume. It should liven up the place.
Our youth soccer program concluded a very successful season on Saturday. We had a nice atmosphere with face painting, inflatable structures and some teams playing soccer in their Halloween costumes. There are few experiences like watching a witch, complete with hat, race down the soccer field to score a goal. Overall, it was an outstanding day.
Boot camp is registering for an additional session in November, it is a great time to get signed up and find out what the buzz is about.
The YMCA will be open on a limited basis on Thursday morning, Thanksgiving Day. Please note the Sauna, Kid Zone and one of our group exercise rooms will be closed that day for maintenance.
Thank you for visiting the SE YMCA blog and have a blessed Halloween day!

10-27-2011

Thank you for visiting the SE YMCA blog. We are wrapping up a very successful week at the YMCA.
- We hosted our Fall Festival on Saturday of last week and it was a great success, with lots of people from the community participating.
- This Saturday will be the final day of youth soccer season, it has been a very successful season and we are already planning for Spring.
- We hosted our annual chili cook-off this week and it was also a wonderful event with great participation.
In case you have not noticed on our website the YMCA will be open a few limited hours on Thanksgiving morning so you can burn a few calories prior to your Thanksgiving meal. We are doing a few maintenance projects so be aware that the Kid Zone area will be closed that day as the wood floor is being refinished, one of the group exercise rooms will also be closed for floor refinishing and finally the sauna will be shut down as we complete work on the floor and new benches. The workout room, pool and locker rooms will be available for you.
Thank you for visiting the SE YMCA blog, have a blessed day!

10-19-2011

Just a brief blog today, I am out of town the remainder of the week so I will likely not be updating the blog much until early next week.

Do not forget the YMCA Fall Festival is this weekend from 3 – 5 on Saturday afternoon. It should be a fun event with the family splash and dash taking place, as well as games, bounce houses etc… It is a free comunity event so please come check out the fun.

The SE YMCA had a nutrition seminar Tuesday night this week and 42 people attended, it was a great event. We are already looking into scheduling another one, more details soon.

Thank you for visiting the SE YMCA Blog and have a blessed day.

10-18-2011

I am continuing today to respond to issues that have come up in our member satisfaction survey and address those. We had quite a few comments regarding our Sunshine Room and Kid Zone areas. I have sampled a few below:
- The playroom (Adventure?) could have either extended hours or a better communication of what it’s hours are. Seems like you have to go to the Y to know what the hours are for the Adventure room (think that’s the name for 6-11 year old care)
- The hours for childcare do not work for my schedule at all really, I wish they could be available more in the afternoon.
- The weekend hours for the kids club are very disappointing. I am often unable to come to the Y to workout because I would not have child care for my son.
- longer sunshine room hours
- Would love to see the childcare hours at the Y expand. The midday break is very inconvenient for our family. I think the Saturday hours could be a little longer as well. Quite simply, we cannot come and work out unless the childcare is open.
As you can well imagine setting the hours is a constant struggle between cost and usage. We want to be open at the times that are most convenient for the bulk of our users, however it becomes very expensive to open both of those areas for 1 or 2 children. We have also run into significant issues in the past when we have attempted to open just the Sunshine room or just the Kid Zone area instead of both, so our standard now is to have them open the same schedule to avoid those conflicts. Mid afternoon time has typically run into nap time for most of our infant and toddler age children, which is the main reason we are not open during those hours, because the attendance has typically been poor.
That being said we are in the process of evaluating extending our times some and should be in the position to inform our membership about upcoming schedule adjustments within the next few weeks. We are very mindful of the requests we are getting for expanded service in that area and will attempt to find ways to provide greater service at times when it will benefit the most members.
Thank you for visiting the SE YMCA blog and have a blessed day.

10-17-2011

Welcome to the Monday blog. It is a great day; we had a very good all staff meeting last night to begin getting ready for 2012. Also, my son’s United Gold 2000 soccer team went on the road to get a hard fought tie with the # 1 team in his division yesterday and he had a goal. So we are all smiles today.
As I mentioned last week I am going to respond to comments from our member satisfaction survey for a few blogs and at least inform you about decisions and why they are made.
As usual we have received multiple comments about our pool schedule. Some are highlighted here:
• need 7:30 PM start time for water classes
• I wish evening aqua aerobics were earlier than 7:30.
• They have moved our water classes back so late we can’t come because we have to get up early to go to work. The YMCA when we joined they had classes at 5:30 pm and 6:00 pm now the classes are 6:30 to 7:30.
• Not enough open swim hours during the week for kids.
• Would like more water fitness classes during kids club/sunshine hours
• Need more lap time
• During the week, there is little family time available to families with elementary-age children
• We need more lap swimming available after work from 5 – 7
As you can see from the comments above we need a giant pool from 4 – 7 for lap swimming, water exercise, family swim and swimming lessons. Quite simply we do not have enough pool space to serve everyone that wants pool time in the late afternoon and early evening. That is not to say we are not going to continue to evaluate our options and make adjustments when possible to try and find the best possible mix between all the groups who want pool space.
Currently we have more early evening pool time for family swim available than any YMCA in Louisville (except NE which has two indoor pools). We set aside 3 lanes on Monday and Wednesday nights from 5:30pm – 6:20pm for family swim. That is followed by water exercise at 6:30pm on both of those nights. 2 lap lanes are also available during the same family swimming time. On Tuesday and Thursday nights we do youth swimming lessons in the early evening time and begin water exercise at 7:30pm. We will look at other YMCA pool schedules and continue to evaluate our usage to determine if there are any more creative solutions available to us, but we are fully aware that every attempt to provide more for one group of users, takes something away from 3 other groups.
Thank you for visiting the blog and have a blessed day!