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YMCA growth fueled by a passionate community Date published: 5/5/2005 By MEGHANN COTTER Sean O'Connell grew up in a community that didn't have a YMCA. After moving to this area, the Fredericksburg resident learned what he had missed out on. The Rappahannock Area YMCA was teaching kids how to swim, helping keep them out of trouble and promoting healthy fitness. He joined the organization's 10-member board in 1991 because he wanted to be a part of growing and expanding those services. Fourteen years later, the area Y boasts the second-largest facility in Virginia. And its regional board of directors--made up of savvy people such as O'Connell, an accountant with PBGH, and Jon Wallace, a president for First Market Bank, among others--is aggressively pursuing expansion in surrounding counties. "You haven't seen anything yet," O'Connell said. "They are going to be all over the place." The Y's progress has come, in large part, from a board of directors that feels strongly about the organization's mission. "We are all passionate about having a successful YMCA organization," Wallace said. The Y has meant a lot to Wallace because his children, now teenagers, used it so much when they were on swim teams. Not all communities are seeing their Y's grow as quickly and successfully as the one here. But years ago, the Massad branch on Butler Road didn't have much of a story to tell, either. Humble beginningsWhen Buddy Fredette joined the nonprofit's board of directors in the early '90s, the most exciting service it offered was the pool. The locker rooms didn't have air conditioning, and members practically needed four-wheel drive to get into the parking lot because of the potholes. But efforts to fix those problems at the southern Stafford County location marked the beginning of a transition for the area Y. The facility, which opened in 1982, saw its first major additions--including a gymnasium, fitness center, expanded parking and sauna and steam rooms--in 1997. But many improvements and expansions have happened in just the last four years. The Massad branch added racquetball courts in 2001, indoor and outdoor tennis courts in 2002 and an indoor wellness pool last year.
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