CELEBRATING AMERICA'S 250TH WITH OUR TRAVEL CLUB IN NY HARBOR | | |
A large group of YMCA Alumni members and friends celebrated America's birthday aboard the famed Cunard Queen Mary 2 oceanliner in New York Harbor before sailing off to Newport, RI, and up to Halifax, Nova Scotia, with our YMCA Alumni Travel Club.
Top row L-R: -- Schreiner Chapter's Paul and LeAnn Sullivan flank NBC Today Show's Jenna Hagar Bush; Dave and Marian Bolton from the Grand Canyon Chapter; West VP Carmelita Gallo; Bottom row L-R-- Norm and Mary Toshiko-Haughey from McCoy Chapter, Bill and Robyn Furness-Fallin from the Weatherford Chapter, Lynne Vaughan, President, Grand Canyon, and Steve Mott from the Marston Chapter. Photos by Carmelita Gallo and Lynne Vaughan.
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...and MEMBERS CRUISING
THE LAST FRONTIER IN JUNE
| Another group of YMCA Alumni left Vancouver on June 5, for a 7-night cruise into Alaska on Celebrity Edge. They visited Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, the Endicott Arm, and Dawes Glacier before returning to Seattle. On board were (L-R) Jean Bock, Jan Nees, Lowell Nees, Karen Kohl, Steve Mott, Leslie Boone, Joyce Forman, Deborah Winter, and Bert Bock. Jean and Bert were hosts. This was our third YMCA Alumni Travel Club trip to the Last Frontier. | | |
PHILL MORGAN
FROM THE PRESIDENT
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I enjoy reading your chapter newsletters. Chapters are busy and have already planned their Fall gatherings. Three chapters have gatherings set for September while seven others are meeting in October. That’s great!
Our CONNECT emphasis is so important because we look forward to seeing each other as evidenced by the great distances we travel to be with our Y friends. Have a great time this Fall.
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YMCA Alumni Name Changes Over the Years
(corrected from last month’s article).
The International Association of Retired Directors (IARD) began in 1972.
North American Fellowship of YMCA Retirees, Inc. (NAFYR) began in 1995.
Association of YMCA Retirees (AYR) began in 2009.
YMCA Alumni began in 2017. The new name reflected a broader vision of YMCA Retirees, former YMCA staff, spouses, and surviving spouses.
Core tenants of YMCA Alumni have been CONNECT, TRAVEL, AND SERVE since 2017.
| | 'SERVICE' IS THEME OF SUMMER PERSPECTIVE IN YOUR EMAIL AUG. 15 | |
Watch your email on Aug. 15 for the summer issue of Perspective, the e-zine of YMCA Alumni.
Our theme is “Service… So Many Ways." Articles are written by your YMCA Alumni colleagues Cindy Koenig-Daggs, Lou Falk, Andres Fortunado, Steve and Mary Beth Clay, Nancy Bonell, Laura Kamperman, Karen Kohl and Steve Mott, Richard Foot, Peggi Simmons, Len Wilson, Martha Machnik, Paul Andresen, and Linda Dean.
Following the email release, the e-zine will be available on our website under the "Newsletters and More" tab in both e-zine and PDF formats until release of the Fall issue Nov. 15.
| WRITE FOR PERSPECTIVE: The theme of our Fall issue is "Hobbies for Fun and Profit." We're looking for interesting stories about YMCA Alumni members' hobbies. If you have a hobby you love and want to share with a story and photos, please emailPerspective Managing Editor Peggi Simmons soon. | | |
JUNE 15-19, 2027
Click the image above to check out Kansas City's thriving brunch scene. A memorable brunch is not only waiting for you if you come to KC early or stay late, but the hot spots are open on weekdays, too.
We're staying at the Embassy Suites Hotel by Hilton, just 4 miles from the airport, with a free 24-hour shuttle. Registration will open later this summer. Yes, you've got a date in Kansas City.
| | (Above photo) YMCA retirees around the world meet in Toronto for the World Fellowship of YMCA Retirees (WFYR) conference. (Below) New WFYR Chair Helene Weir and outgoing chair Kohei Yamada. Photos by Yukio Yamasaki. | |
YMCA Retirees from across the globe met in Toronto, Canada June 19-24 for the quadrennial World Fellowship of YMCA Retirees (WFYR) Conference.
Helene Weir, a member of the YMCA Alumni Grand Canyon Chapter and a retired CEO of large YMCAs in Canada and the USA, was elected WFYR Chair.
Check the September issue of The Connection, which will include a new link to BRIDGES, the WFYR newsletter, where a report on the conference, including the group's goals and plans for 2026 to 2030, will be included.
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etir
MEMORY LANE
with BILL MOSS
'NOW, I UNDERSTAND...'
| | U.S Marines welcomed Vietnamese refugees to Camp Pendleton in San Diego by creating this huge tent city in 1975. A number of YMCA directors, including our ever-popular Memory Lane columnist Bill Moss, volunteered. He brought home a young boy and has written about his success in America several times, including in our July issue. Here's another heart-warmer from Bill. | | |
When I was a volunteer in the Vietnamese Refugee Program at Camp Pendleton, I received a phone call from Art Mehagian, chairman of our YMCA's Metropolitan Board.
Art told me he was vacationing at his beach home just south of Long Beach. He wanted to know if I would give him a tour of the Refugee Camp if he came down. I told him I would be pleased to be his guide.
Art arrived about an hour later, and we began his tour. Art was asking all kinds of questions, and we stopped from time to time to talk with the refugees to hear their stories.
We were nearing the end of his visit when we stopped in front of one of the tents, as Art was interested in a refugee artist who was finishing a clay sculpture.
We spent some time in conversation with the artist, who told us that the piece he was working on would probably be his last, as he had no more materials left. Hearing that, Art reached into his pocket, handed the artist a $100 bill, and said, "Use this to get more supplies."
As I walked Art to his car, he thanked me for the time we'd spent together, and then he said, "You know, this gives me a better understanding of what my father went through when he was forced to leave Armenia as a refugee."
When Art's dad came to Arizona as a refugee, he made his living going door-to-door selling Persian rugs. He turned that door-to-door business into one of the finest furniture stores in Phoenix.
| | Bill Moss is a member of the Grand Canyon Chapter, serves on the National Service Project Standing Committee and was editor of this newsletter when it was known as "The Old Guard News." Bill was a nominee for the 2025 F. William Stahl Award. | | |
This is the third and final month of our annual donor campaign. I hope you've watched my short video explaining why your personal contribution to YMCA Alumni beyond your dues is so important. If you haven't yet made your annual contribution, please click the button below, watch the video, and then donate.
Thank you for being a part of YMCA Alumni. --Jean Carmichael, Fundraising Chair
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CHAPTER CHECK-IN:
SERVICE, GOLF, SOME WINE
AND TWO SUMMER PICNICS
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It's been a busy summer in New England. Sharing the Harvest Community Farm, a project of the Dartmouth, MA YMCA, got the attention of New England Chapter members on an early June day. The project is a volunteer grassroots effort to help feed "neighbors in need throughout the South Coast region." Participating were Gregg and Lisa Howells, Karen Leslie, Nancy Bonell, Gary Schuyler, Lucria Ortiz (YMCA CEO), Lisa Drouin, and Martha Machnik. Right photo: Rob Reeves, Dan Desmond, and Kim Kimball get ready to head out onto the Treehouse golf course in Tewksbury, MA on a New England Chapter golf outing. The chapter's second annual summer gathering at the Cape Cod Winery was a chance to renew old acquaintances. Pictured L-R are Mary Beth Clay, Pete Walsh, Rob Treglia, Karen Leslie, and Stacy Peugh.
| | It's that time of the year when members of the Central Atlantic Chapter head to Strathmere on the Jersey Shore as Joyce and Len Wilson host the chapter's annual tradition in their summer home. L-R: The seafood chowder and much more are ready, and Ken White and Walt Fromm catch up with each other. | | The annual Upper Midwest Chapter picnic at Lone Lake Park in Minnetonka, MN, was another summer hit. Top L-R -- Mary Felty, Brian Hubbard, Janice Schroetke, and Deanna Sande. Below, the whole gang. Photos by Sue Harris. | | Click on the image above to connect directly to the Travel Club page on our website for current trip listings. | | |
Victor Willis, frontman of the 1970s disco group Village People, has died at 74. His biggest hit was the iconic “Y.M.C.A.” Willis was the policeman.
He said he penned the song “to celebrate the YMCA’s urban spaces as safe, lively community hubs where I hung out with friends, playing basketball during my youth.”
The song has become virtually an anthem for generations, sung and “arm-spelled out” at thousands of Y camps, sports events, and so much more.
It has enjoyed its latest renaissance at President Donald Trump’s rallies and events, prompting Willis to say granting use of the song “had nothing to do with politics and I'm glad I allowed the President’s continued use of Y.M.C.A."
The smash-hit song became unstoppable and continues to provide a mammoth PR boost for the YMCA today and, likely, tomorrow.
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What else is new? The YMCA is connected to the World Cup, too.
Some 50 years ago, the YMCA of Metro Atlanta launched a summer soccer league in partnership with the professional Atlanta Chiefs. It was one of the USA’s earliest organized youth soccer programs,
If you’ve been glued to TV coverage, like the rest of the world, you know that Atlanta was a host city for the 2026 World Cup.
The YMCA of Metro Atlanta helped introduce youth soccer to this community in its earliest days," said Y president and CEO Lauren Koontz. “That legacy helped spark the growth of the sport across the country and continues to shape how young people experience the game today.”
The YMCA later expanded the program into a structured league with age divisions and scheduled games in Atlanta. Soon soccer spread to Y kids across our country.
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BOARD OF DIRECTORS
YMCA ALUMNI
| | THE CONNECTION is written, edited and produced by craig altschul + associates (ca+a). It is published 12 times yearly. Next issue: September 2, 2026. | | OUR MISSION: To provide opportunities for members to Connect, Travel, and Serve while nurturing worldwide Christian fellowship. | | IMPORTANT NOTE: Please think twice when unsubscribing to any unsolicited email. If it has been sent to you by Constant Contact, they are not allowed, by law, to send any more emails to you, including from YMCA Alumni. Just flick away emails you don't want -- but please don't "unsubscribe." We can get you re-subscribed ONLY ONCE. Send us an email if you are not receiving our newsletters or you have accidentally unsubscribed and we will try to reinstate you. --editor | | | |
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