MICHIANA NEWS

Hoosier-Buell Chapter

Michigan/Indiana

December 2022

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Don and Ramona Stetson, John and Kathy Mack, Dan, Marilyn and Patrick Sager had a fantastic adventure on the YMCA Alumni Travel Club's great Colorado's Historic Trains adventure in August. Starting in Denver, we traveled via motor coach to ride seven scenic and historic trains in the gold, silver and ore mines of the Rocky Mountains. We viewed tremendous sights and learned historical perspectives of train and life from early mining days,

As of November 30, 53 individuals from our chapter have renewed their YMCA Alumni Membership for 2023. We are still in the renewal period so if you haven’t sent in your renewal form, please do so soon. If for some reason you did not get the renewal notice in the U.S. Mail, or need another one, email or call Terry Jones (765) 643-4992. Your chapter membership for all retirees in Michigan and Indiana is FREE.  The National YMCA Alumni membership is $25 for renewal but it too is FREE for the first year of joining. Reply to Terry today.

Our National Alumni goal was a plan to raise $600,000 to build four Tiny Homes and two Twigs (small Y branch facility) in the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation. In 2022 we received 28 Contributions from our chapter alumni totaling $23,000. Nationally, we have raised $578,200 from 517 contributors. 75 volunteers have gone to Dupree, SD in six-1 week work sessions to begin the construction.

Danny Maier, Ann Arbor, MI and Dan and Marilyn Sager, Anderson, IN volunteered for week 6, Oct 30-Nov 6. Our focus that week was to install the main roof beam to finish roofing panels on the first Tiny Home. After the roof panels were installed, we wrapped the roof and four walls with highly protective weather resistant sealing material. 

The total crew of nine volunteers also accomplished a major clean-up of the construction site and enjoyed side trips to the YMCA's Camp Marrowbone, The Badlands National Park, Crazy Horse Memorial, the Black Hills and learning about the Lakota Culture. 2023 plans call for 8, one- week waves of continued construction. Hope you can join us, it’s a great experience.

Photos: (L) Dan Sager and Danny Maier in front of "wrapped home." (R) Wave 6 volunteers finishing shell of first home.

Terry and Lynette Jones represented our chapter at YMCA Reunion '22 and General Counsel meeting in New Orleans hosted by the East Region. Also in attendance from our chapter was Dale and Joy Packer. It was a very successful event held at the Embassy Suites, just three blocks from the Mississippi River waterfront.

There were two sessions with detailed reports on various YMCA Alumni and an interesting presentation by Suzanne McCormick ,the relatively new President of the YMCA of the USA. A highlight of the event was a bus tour of the city, with excellent tour guides, and a visit to the impressive Mardi Gras World & Studios, where they design, build, and store all of the props that are used on the Mardi Gras floats. 

There was also a lot of free time set aside for individual sigh-seeing, shopping and eating the local cuisine. We decided to spend our last evening in New Orleans on a two hour Riverboat Cruise that featured a very talented jazz band. It was a great choice

The next reunion will be a Western Caribbean cruise embarking from Galveston, Texas on Royal Carribean in early 2025. Watch for the details and plan to attend. --Terry Jones

Danny was a volunteer member of the Wave 6 team for our YMCA Alumni National Service Project. Working as a key member for that team has further underscored his interest and support for the project.  He has accepted to be our chapter’s 2023 NSP campaign chair and that cause will be explained in the next few months to our alumni members.

Dan Maier holds bachelor degrees in liberal arts and Spanish from the University of Notre Dame and a masters of business administration from the University of Michigan. He is a veteran of 10 marathons and an avid cyclist and currently resides with his wife in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Winnie is COO of Velocity EHS, a Chicago-based software company specializing in environmental safety and sustainability. They have two children, Isabel 29 and Sebastian 24.

Prior to joining the YMCA, Maier was Director of News and Information at the American Medical Association for seven years and the creative force behind the AMA’s successful campaign against “Old Joe Camel” and the push for FDA regulation of tobacco. In 1996, Maier led the AMA’s call for institutional divestment of tobacco stocks.

From 2002 to 2014, Danny was Executive Vice President for Association Advancement at the YMCA of Metropolitan Detroit, where he was responsible for financial development, volunteer development, and communication activities of the association as well as supervising and reviving two YMCA resident camps..

During his first year the Detroit YMCA was in the middle of the largest capital expansion in its modern history; a $100 million capital effort opening four new facilities throughout Southeast Michigan.

Before joining the Detroit Y, Maier served as a National Director for Mission Advancement at the national office of the YMCA of the USA. He led the YMCA of the USA’s development, marketing, media and public relations, corporate relations, publications, special events, international division, and the YMCA’s strategic positioning campaign. Maier also supervised the YMCA’s Public Policy Office in Washington, D.C.

Wayne J. Fieldhouse passed on at age 92 to be with the Lord on September 20, 2022. Wayne was a hardworking and gregarious Y Professional who servedd the Y for nearly 40 years. He spent the last years of his career traveling the roads of Indiana as the Indiana National Field Consultant. He assisted local YMCAs in a variety of important tasks, from selection of new Executive Directors to Board development.

His travels also made him a bit of a ‘connections man’ as he could spread good ideas from one Y to another. As a ‘one man show’ he also recruited knowledgeable Y professionals from one Y to serve as a consultant to other Ys in areas where their experience could help. Always focused on improving each Ys impact in their community, Wayne spearheaded the process of bring small teams of ‘volunteer consultants’ from various Ys to form a team and go for 2-3 days of analysis and training to a Y that was seeking help in multiple areas.

Wayne was a process person as he would try to get a Y started down the road they needed and then stay in touch while they worked their way through the process. He always considered himself a servant-leader and preferred to have the spotlight of success shining on others with himself seldom ‘center stage’.

When Wayne retired from the Y approximately 23 years ago, he and Pat moved to Holland, Michigan and his servant leadership continued, serving numerous not-for-propfits as well as his church. He and Pat drove and walked hundreds of miles as the President of the West Michigan Volksmarch Association. Closer to Holland he worked with local nature-education groups. For several years he led a local walkers group called the Holland Striders and grew it into a functioning model of what successful program development looked like. Collectively counting the miles walked by the group, Wayne and the group virtually walked around the world, striding more than 6000 miles!

At the celebration of life held in October for Wayne at his church in Holland, many Striders were present and spoke enthusiastically of their walks with Wayne and the cookouts he and Pat held for the group at their home.

Wayne’s wife Pat still lives in Bradenton, Florida where they had moved just a few months before his passing. Each of you who knew Wayne would have others stories to tell but would agree that Wayne worked had to make the world a better place for others.



--By Dave Wright