Audio clip
coylee_history_0603.mp3
By Catherine C. Helms
The history of the YMCA in Chattanooga evokes memories of people and events spanning more than 130 years. Jac Chambliss agreed to share his thoughts on the early years (May 20 article), and I am sharing my recollections of the past 40 years starting with raising the funds for the present YMCA.
Scotty Probasco well remembers Dr. James Fowle calling a select group of men to his office and assigning YMCA leadership roles to each of them. Scotty says Joe Davenport was shaking as he thought he would be asked to be president AND run the campaign for the new building on west Sixth Street. When Dr. Fowle said Joe would be president and that he, Dr. Fowle, would chair the campaign, Joe was so relieved that he just slumped over in his chair. Such was the power of Dr. James Fowle, pastor of First Presbyterian Church.
The campaign was successful and Scotty persuaded Humpy Heywood to come out of retirement from Baylor School to head the YMCA in its new environment. Humpy assessed the situation and made plans for the building's use. He began weekly civic club meetings, and he asked me to set up a YMCA reading program including study skills and speed-reading.
Humpy was responsible for building the women's fitness center in space previously leased to the Girl Scouts. He saw that women were named to the Metropolitan Board -- I was one who served with many fine and caring community leaders. Frank Brock, R.C. Thatcher Jr., James Irvine Jr., John Guerry, Raymond Witt, Bill Pettway, J.M. Robinson and Grant Law were "old Chattanooga family" chairmen, while Don Jensen, Bob Davis, Spencer Wright and Bob Lyons were some of the "new Chattanooga family" chairmen.
When Clark Baker succeeded Humpy Heywood as YMCA president and CEO, he had the cornerstone moved to the lobby of the Downtown Y. On it was inscribed "Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone." That was the beginning of a renewed emphasis in the Christian mission of the YMCA in Chattanooga.
Clark Baker shared some of his memories with me: "There could be no Y like it that I had ever seen ... . It was (and is) everything!"
"I tell people that in Orlando I learned about operations, and in Chattanooga I learned to work with people of influence. Those six years were grand. We doubled the operating budget, opened two new Y's, expanded the camp, began to use Fuller Ridge and redid the downtown Y. Many of the stories I tell as I speak around the country reference Chattanooga and all I learned in that place, at that time.
"We all worked, especially Catherine Helms and Tina Nolan Harr, to strengthen the Christian mission of our YMCA. We began a committee, hosted brown bag lunches, organized a prayer breakfast and added Bible study. We had a brochure made that said "THE C IN THE YMCA."
We printed a book of devotions which were sold nationally and are still ordered today -- some 20 years later. Mildred Montague, a member of the committee, underwrote the cost of the book.
The YMCA is dependent on strong leadership from professionals and volunteers. After a year and a half with Douglas Goodfellow as CEO, the YMCA asked Bill Wetzel, who had been on the YMCA staff in Birmingham, Ala., to serve as our leader. Bill has enjoyed outstanding success as our chief executive. He saw that the Hamilton YMCA was built. This Y functions in cooperation with Memorial Hospital.
Provident gave the Y its lake property, and summer day camps were held there until it was sold in 2005. The Cleveland YMCA became a branch of the Chattanooga YMCA in 1997. The Y-Cap program was established and Camp Ocoee was expanded with land donated from Maytag Corp. Ocoee has a new lodge and climbing tower; all of the ancient cabins have been renovated.
The Henry branch was moved to Eastgate Town Center so that more people in the Brainerd area could have Y child care and exercise programs. North River YMCA and the city of Chattanooga constructed an aquatic center. The North Georgia YMCA will become a larger and more viable branch in the coming months. Bill is working with Erlanger to provide wellness services there. Rhea County YMCA became a branch of Chattanooga's YMCA.
It has been a busy 16 years for Bill. While researching "Y" history, Bill shared with me the minutes books dating to the inception of the YMCA -- what beautiful handwriting and wording. We decided the Chattanooga Hamilton County Bicentennial Library archives was the perfect place to preserve them, and they are now safely in the archives.
The YMCA in Chattanooga continues to "build strong kids, strong families and strong communities."
Catherine C. Helms, a graduate of Huntingdon College and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, taught at UTC. She was chairman of the Tennessee YMCA and the YMCAs of the South. She also served on the board of the YMCA of the USA, traveling abroad on behalf of the organization and helping establish a YMCA in Bryansk, Russia. She is national defense chairman for the Chickamauga Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
