YMCA ramps up Sandpoint programs

SANDPOINT — Since early 2010, a small but energetic cadre of community leaders has been hard at work to set the stage for a full-scale YMCA recreation center to serve local residents.

The best-kept secret in Bonner County seems to revolve around the fact that the “Y” is already in place and waiting to share its wealth of programs and activities with kids.

As of this May, the Sandpoint group officially became affiliated with network of more than 2,600 YMCA facilities nationwide. Within a few weeks, a summer’s worth of week-long camps had been planned. Now, all that’s needed is campers to enjoy the fun.

“Our job is to get that awareness out to the community so people know about the program,” said Richie Withycombe, one of the four counselors staffing the summer series of camps. “We’re ready to roll. If we could get even 10 kids enrolled, we’ll hold the camp.”

The daily sessions are scheduled to take place at the University of Idaho Research & Extension Center on North Boyer Ave., with buildings and ample outdoor space provided by the university for the YMCA summer activities. Designed to serve children entering grades 1-6, each camp is based on a fun theme. Better yet for working parents, all of the weekly camps run from 7:30 a.m.-6 p.m.

“You could already piece together a summer’s worth of camps in this area if you needed all-day care,” said Bill Aitken of Aitken Construction, one of the board members of the Sandpoint Area Recreation & Community Center group behind the push for a “Y” facility here.

“But I do think we still have an opportunity with those parents who are just now ready to get their kids into a camp,” Withycombe added.

The camp counselor’s assuredness is based on more than conjecture — at least two surveys have shown that the community would pounce on the chance to host such a facility.

The first study went out to families of every student in the Lake Pend Oreille School District. More than 2,000 responses came back — a whopping 80 percent response rate — stating that residents would make use of a YMCA recreation center, particularly if it includes a pool and seasonal ice facility.

Wanting to make certain they were moving in the right direction, the SPARC board utilized a $20,000 grant from the Sandpoint Urban Renewal Agency to conduct a more scientific survey conducted by Strategic Research Associates of Spokane.

“Again, the overwhelming results came back that there was a need for a YMCA here and that people would support it,” said city councilwoman Carrie Logan, another SPARC board member.

The drive for a recreation facility took off after Logan had a conversation with a couple of local parents about the need for an indoor training and sports site for youngsters.

“We decided that what we really wanted was a Y-type facility with accompanying sports fields,” she said.

Once the SPARC board came together, contact with the regional YMCA establishment happened almost immediately. Conversations with Pat Estes, association program coordinator for YMCA in the Inland Northwest, pointed to a productive relationship between the “Y” and the local community.

“They told us that Sandpoint has always been on their radar and said they’d be a research and technical advisor and give us whatever support we needed,” Logan said.

“That’s the nice thing about the YMCA — we strive to meet the community’s needs,” said Estes, who noted that the organization already has a working relationship with the Sandpoint Junior Tackle Football program. “If, down the road, that leads to a full-fledged YMCA facility in Sandpoint, that would be great.”

Casting a broader net, SPARC worked with area sports teams to get their ideas on what such a facility should look like.

“Early on, we brought in soccer, we brought in lacrosse,” Aitken explained. “We engaged all those groups and asked them, ‘What do you need?’”

SPARC then visited a privately funded sports facility in Whitefish, Mont., to see how that project was faring. They learned that — almost as soon as it had opened with its competition pool, kid pool and sports courts — the complex was faced with the need to expand.

In Sandpoint, the early sketches of a YMCA building include space for a swimming pool, basketball courts, workout equipment, yoga rooms, a children’s area and an ice hockey rink that would operate from October-May. Outdoors, the facility would include three soccer fields.

For now, however, the group hopes to convey the YMCA experience through its August summer camps. The U of I center, which closed in June of 2010 due to budget cuts, offers plenty of space to get that done, Withycombe pointed out.

“It’s great — we have waterfront for science work, great stands of trees for challenge course elements and fields for playing games,” he said. “We have access to the whole place.”

Along with activities at the North Boyer site, the counselors plan to use the SPOT bus to shuttle campers for daily swims at Sandpoint City Beach, visits to the museum and trips to local parks.

“There’s so much we can do with what we already have in place,” Withycombe said. “The idea is to create programs first and then build a facility.”

“That’s the model the YMCA uses,” Aitken added. “First, you demonstrate the need. Then, once people have a good ‘Y’ experience, they’re much more apt to support the program.”

Withycombe, a U of I Recreation graduate whose experience includes working as program director for summer camps at Lutherhaven, as well as working as a ski instructor involved with kids’ programs at Schweitzer, will lead the camps with fellow counselors Aubrie Perry and Emily and Collin Jurenka.

“I’m excited about what we can do here — the opportunities are endless,” he said. “We feel confident that, once we get a couple of weeks of camps happening, that’ll get the ball rolling.

Dates and themes for upcoming camps include:

• Aug. 5 — Science Central

• Aug. 12 — Jungles & Safaris

Cost for each week-long camp is $155, with a 20-percent discount for additional children from the same family. Financial assistance is available through the YMCA for lower-income families.

“The ‘Y’ has a very good financial assistance program and they’re eager to send those dollars,” Logan said. “Parents just have to ask for it.”

Sack lunches also are available at no cost to campers as part of the LPOSD Childhood Nutritional Services program, she added.

Withycombe is available at the U of I center on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5-7 p.m. for registration and site tours. For information and phone registration, call (509) 777-9622 or visit online at www.ymcasandpoint.org.