Community should lock arms to bring YMCA here
This is just a note to acknowledge Eleanor Evans' YMCA article in the May 10 Daily Record, the timeliness, thoroughness - and accumulation of more negatives than I have observed in more than 45 years as a YMCA member across the United States and Canada, also the choice of a spokesman or opposition watchdog in nearby Fayetteville.
I am sure the good fellow has firsthand experience. I have nothing against private clubs at all. People migrate upward when they like, and when they can afford more private service and amenities.
In the article, I would have liked to have seen mention of the 160 years of YMCA history, and the hundreds of prominent people who have been YMCA members - and mention of the fact that the YMCA never turns down a member who is unable to pay. One can roll up all the institutions of goodwill and heart, and the YMCA does more good accidentally than the others put together.
I also wish to compliment Brad Crain of Arvest Bank and Kalene Griffith for constructive and onthe-money comments. What our community needs is a lockedarms, full-throttle effort to obtain as much land as possible to build a large, family-centered YMCA - much on the order of the Thornton YMCA in Tulsa, with particular emphasis on single moms. As a tournament handball player, I have been a member of or played in many private clubs, but I'll take the good old YMCA every time. So let us all get behind the aggressive young board of directors and make this new YMCA a showcase for all to see and be proud of. Even the venerable Abe Lincoln provided land for the current YMCA in Washington, D. C. He was that farseeing.
Fred Keys / Bella Vista
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