SHORT STORY CONTEST WINNERS

Fond memories of the historic YMCA.

Y-LOFTS.COM

1st place

The Y that was... my second home!Author: Leonard Minty

My eighth birthday meant I was finally old enough to join the Peterborough YMCA.

It also meant I could start swimming on my Dad’s Y swim team. We swam in the

20-yard four lane “Pioneer” Pool that has recently been restored. I recall vividly my first

official race. Being the slowest in a handicap event I was to start on GO. The other three

swimmers being faster would dive in on precise numbers of seconds later. If each of

us tied his best time we would finish in a dead heat. I did start on Go, took two strokes,

pulled myself up onto the deck and declared to the assembled spectators, “The water’s

too cold!” T’was a pretty ignominious debut for a swimmer launching himself onto a

lifetime of competitive swimming.

Like the pool, the gymnasium was also undersized. A basketball shot from centre was a tad longer than a today three pointer. A jump shot from the baseline would bounce off the bottom of the suspended track above. This gym was narrow too. I watched Rick Kinsman, Peterborough’s future Olympic gymnast, leap from one side of the track, bounce up from a trampoline below, somersault, grasp a rope suspended from the ceiling, and swing safely to the other side.

Girls started to infiltrate the Boys Y in 1962. Because Y swimmers up to this point had swum naked, there were embarrassing moments — some by design. One March Break afternoon, knowing that high school girls were in the pool for the Red Cross Instructor’s Recertification, I in my gym clothes gave my friend Roy, showering in the buff, a towel flick on his backside and ran through the pool door with him in hot pursuit. I raced over, jumped up onto the diving board and positioned myself at its end. Roy had me trapped and was advancing slowly along the board intent on revenge when he finely focused on the two dozen girls lined up along the wall. He let out a yelp, covered himself and ran back into the showers. He waited twenty minutes for me to come back through that pool door but I had slipped out through the instructor’s office and made my escape.

Probably my wife and I are not the only married couple whose first date was at a Peterborough HiY dance. In the early 60’s it was the place to be on a Saturday night. The cost was 35 cents stag or 50 cents drag which except for that first date I generally didn’t pay because my pool key (I instructed) opened most of the Y doors. We would slip in the Murray Street entrance, hike up two floors, sneak through the men’s residences, descend two flights of circular stairs to enter the dance via the gym instructor’s door. For the record, the last dance was always ‘In the Still of the Night’ by the Five Satins.

There simply wasn’t a single area in my “second home” that didn’t hold a memory for me. I:

• was one of the last pin-boys to work the Y’s four bowling alleys

• helped install itchy fibreglass insulation above the ceiling of the Y’s gym

• viewed the “new” city hall from a window in the Y’s turret

• got myself locked in the pitch-black boiler room beneath the Y’s pool after closing hours

• studied for my grade 13 departmental exams in the Y’s Board Room

• performed with the New Minty Crystals folk group in the Y’s ballroom

• sunbathed on the Y’s flat roof over the pool

• received a 7-stitch memento shattering one of the Y’s semi-circular windows while

playing Ping-Pong

• escaped crushing my neck with a barbell when I toppled backwards in the Y’s weight

room — alone!

• was Junior Champ in the Y’s handball court

• swam (with 7 others) on the 100-mile relay to celebrate the opening of the new

Minty Pool My fondest memory (those HiY dates notwithstanding) occurred one afternoon in 1961 when drawn by the sound of a pipe band, I climbed out the men’s lavatory window to perch on the 20-foot-long ledge bearing the two-foot-high inscription Young Men’s Christian Association. With my bare legs dangling 25 feet above the George Street entrance, I watched a parade. It wasn’t just any parade because there passing below me in a Cadillac convertible rode the Prime Minister of Canada, John Diefenbaker. I decided I should greet him and so shouted down, “Die-e-e-f the Chie-e-e-f!”...nothing! Oh, he heard me all right because the locals three deep on both sides of the street looked up. I guess the great man could tell from my voice that I wasn’t of voting age. There was more. Riding in the parade’s last Cadillac was none other than “Mr. Peterborough” himself, Mayor Stanley McBride. He was one of Dad’s best swimmers, best friends and a great Y man to boot. So, this time I shouted, “Sta-a-a-n the Ma-a-a-n!” His Worship stood up, pointed to me and shouted back,“Hi Lenny... It’s good to have friends in high places!”

The opening line of my bio in the Peterborough & District Sports Hall of Fame reads, “Leonard Gordon Minty was born and raised in Peterborough and grew up at the YMCA.”

2nd place

My memories of the YMCA.Author: Lionel “Butch” Hempstead

My memories of the YMCA are so many, so vivid and so profound that I will have difficulty

recalling them all within a 900-word story... I will have to synopsize and categorize.

As a child of 6 years old, I grew up close to the Y. My first memories were of the original

swimming pool — later to be called the Minty Pool. I learned how to swim under the

guidance of the late Gord Minty. Starting with the “dog paddle”, then the breast stroke,

free style and the back stroke. I became relatively proficient and won my first medal

in swimming in Dundas, Ontario in 1947. Then, in 1948 I won first place in diving at

the Minty Pool. After gym class, we would all shower and then go into the pool NUDE!

Yes, believe it or not — in the nude!

From age 6 to 16 my activities took place mostly in the Boys Lobby area of the Y. There, I learned how to play chess, checkers, euchre and Ping-Pong (also known as table tennis). Friendly competition was the name of the game and moral attitude was always the goal at the Y. I learned well and became the Junior Champion at Ping-Pong when I was 13. I remember the logo at the “Y” was “Body Mind and Spirit” and I tried to emulate these qualities throughout my life. I attended Central School and P.C.V.S. High School with the Y being the focal point of my life. My buddies and I would meet there at noon, after 4pm and quite often in the evenings. The Gymnasium played the largest part of my existence from age 6 into my 50’s. I learned to play basketball and volleyball. Over the years, I’ve played on many teams and had many good times because of learning to play these 2 sports. Travelling to various cities and competing in tournaments. For many years, Saturday afternoon was “Volleyball Time.” There were 6 teams that would compete very seriously. I recall a funny incident occurring on one of these occasions — a Father and Son team were playing when the father (Dolf Lamers) went up to spike the ball and the son (Stu Lamers) caught a hold of his Father’s gym shorts and when Dolf jumped up to spike the ball — he ended up wearing only his jock strap… the people watching (including my wife Shirley) got a great laugh out of this, but Dolf was most embarrassed.

When I was 12 – 14 years old I would be the score keeper for the basketball games in the gym… I did this on a blackboard with chalk. Also, many dances were held in the gym. I can remember the Guys and Girls dancing to Glen Miller tunes such as “Stardust.” I can still see the spinning mirrored ball reflecting on the walls and ceiling. There were many other events that took place in the gym at the “Y”… such as “Bronze-Modelling,” Foul Shot Competitions and Leader-Corps activities putting on tumbling demonstrations,

The Y even had a 4 lane bowling alley. I would set up the pins for people playing and on a good night I could make .75 cents… I still have a “flattened” thumb from two balls crushing it. My brother Howard actually got hit on the head when setting up the pins.

There are a few people from the Y that impacted my life — the one that I remember the most is Al Clarke — he was the Gym Physical Director. He taught me self respect, discipline and to be a good sport whether I won or lost. Don Duncan, the Boy’s Secretary taught me competitiveness. George Graham and G. H. Roper manned the front desk. For many years, there was a Janitor who “Ruled the Roost” his name was Janitor Jim Young — he was always kicking me out of somewhere.

Another funny and embarrassing incident was when Reverend Gilbert Smith decided to take a swim in the Minty Pool —again in the nude! Little did he know that there was a “female” swimming class taking place.

In the Men’s Lobby, there was a large billiard table where we had many fun times playing pool during my “misspent youth. ” After playing pool, basketball or volleyball a group of us would head across the road to the local “watering hole” called the Pigs Ear. Many problems were solved there while enjoying a brew.

In my home, I have a work out room where I go twice a week to keep in shape. In there I am surrounded by my memorabilia… most of it reminds of my many happy years spent at the YMCA.

In conclusion, my association with YMCA has had the most positive effect on my life — other than my wife and family of three beautiful daughters.

3rd place

Why we love the Y.Author: Maria Ferrer

I have been a Peterborough resident for almost 29 years, arriving in Canada in the

midst of a snowstorm February of 1989 with my husband and 3 year old son Bien.

And yes, we came straight to Peterborough, the only place in Canada where we had

family. It was tough moving to a new city in a new country, especially for our little boy,

whose first language wasn’t English. First task was looking for jobs... second was to

find daycare for Bien. Luckily, we found the perfect one — at the YMCA! This was the

start of our ‘love affair’ with the Y.

Daycare not only gave Bien new friends, a chance to increase his proficiency in English and many memorable experiences, but also a huge bonus — learn to swim lessons! When it was time for him to start school, we were already living downtown, having chosen an apartment that was right behind the Y. Luckily, living downtown also meant the school bus could drop him off at the Y after school, which made the Y daycare his after-school destination. After Bien ‘graduated’ from daycare, he continued swimming lessons at the Y. Bien also enjoyed attending Y daycamps during March Break and summer, plus learned karate while I sweated it out at aerobics class. Basketball at the Y also became a favourite activity for my hubby and his friends.

In June of 1992, we welcomed a new addition to our family — our second son Carlo! Of course, when it came time for him to attend daycare, it was an easy decision to place him at the Y. Like his older brother, Carlo enjoyed making new friends, some of them even became classmates later on. Swimming was also something he looked forward to... and the daycare was the place where he learned how to ride a bike without training wheels! It was while Carlo was in daycare that the Y daycare manager decided to form a parent council. I gladly joined, happy that I got to interact with other parents and help with daycare improvements. One of our projects was to buy a computer for the daycare, to be able to introduce this technology to the children. We fundraised tirelessly — held a yard sale in the alley between the Y and Murray Street Baptist Church, had a bake sale, even sold muffins during the Y’s annual Half Marathon. And yes, we were able to buy a computer, which the kids enjoyed thoroughly!

The daycare continued to be Carlo’s second home, even after he started school. We were still living downtown then so Bien, who was deemed too old to ride the bus for a short distance, walked to the Y after school and met Carlo’s school bus there. (Carlo usually fell asleep during the bus ride and Bien would wake him up to get him off the bus.) Bien was given a ‘volunteer’ title at the daycare, where he spent an hour or so reading to the kids and playing with them before I picked them up.

Bien continued to volunteer at the Y during his high school years, assisting campers during the summer. The Y even chose him to represent Peterborough at the 2001 National Youth Summit in Prince Edward Island, to celebrate United Nations’ International Year of the Volunteer. Later on, after becoming certified as a lifeguard and swim instructor, the Y became Bien’s employer and the swimming pool his workplace. We used to say that it was a unique workplace because you got undressed to go to work. It was also a funny turn of events because years before, he was thrilled to get stickers on his swim evaluation cards... this time, he was attaching stickers and evaluating students. Aside from his workplace, the Y was also his playground, enjoying underwater hockey and squash games before or after shifts.

Carlo, just like his older brother, also spent many years at the Y, even after graduating from daycare. Swim lessons, daycamps, birthday parties — yes, he enjoyed all of those! He also volunteered at the Y summer camp while in high school... and later on, became a camp counsellor and designated first aid person. For two summers, Carlo was called Flopskie by many young YMCA daycampers... as he took them on canoe trips, bike rides, and bandaged little boo-boos. A favourite camp memory of his is this pretty 5 year old girl, going down on one knee, a bunch of wildflowers in one hand, and asking him “Flopskie, will you marry me?,” to which Carlo replied with, “Ask me again in 20 years.” He also loved getting all the thank you notes and cards from the campers and parents at the end of the week. Campers called me Mrs. Flopskie the two summers he worked at camp, because I dropped him off and picked him up daily. I guess this was just natural, seeing as I was Mrs. Carlo during the years he was in daycare.

The former YMCA building is truly historic — not just for the city, but for my own family as well. It offered a warm welcome when we were newcomers to Canada, and became a second home to our children. The Y at the corner of Murray and George will always hold a special place in our hearts.