Southeast Branch Winter 2012 Newsletter

MEMBER PROFILE: Bob Carson 

Bob Carson is truly a Y Lifer! He received his YMCA membership as a gift for his 11th birthday. Mr. Carson’s fondest memories include participating in the Y’s Blackhawk Rifle Club and physical fitness challenges as a youth.  He was also a member of both the wrestling and swim teams.

Mr. Carson says that he “gravitates toward Godly institutions” which is one of the reasons he loves the Y.  He feels that is a great place to meet fellow believers in Christ and that Y people are warm and friendly. The Carson family holds three generations of Y memberships because his children and grandchildren are also members. He has made numerous life-long friends including members of an investment group who would get together to buy and trade stocks. Mr. Carson served on Southeast’s Volunteer Board for numerous years.

Mr. Carson is a proud graduate of Garfield Heights High School and Ohio State University. In 1973, he graduated from Cleveland State University’s Marshall College of Law and passed the state bar exam that same year. His hobbies include working around the house and spending time with friends and family.

 HARVEST FEST a success

The Southeast Family YMCA hosted its first annual Harvest Fest this past fall. The purpose of this event was to give families the opportunity to express themselves on things that they are most thankful for in life.

Family members were able to express themselves through arts and craft activities. The kids designed t-shirts to show their parents and others the things that means the most to them.

Swifty the Clown, volunteered his time to entertain the families by creating balloon animals and other fun figures.

The highlight of the day was when the kids gathered to hear a spiritual story about the meaning of Thanksgiving.

During Harvest Fest, Coach Bob Nance hosted a basketball clinic.  Coach Nance has been instructing clinics for over 27 years in the Greater Cleveland community.

This free clinic saw over 50 children seeking to enhance their basketball skills. Coach Nance ran several Fundamental drills as well as shared some helpful tips for development.

The turnout was excellent and the Southeast Family would like to thank Coach Bob Nance for sharing his time!

Staff receives honors at awards ceremony

During the YMCA Association All Staff meeting, the following staff was recognized for going beyond the scope of their job responsibilities to provide quality service to the members at Southeast.

Andrij Stadnyj
Andrij is head lifeguard and teaches swim lessons. In addition, he also assists with pool maintenance.

Paula Fleming
Paula has been a Membership Services Representative with Southeast Y for over a decade.  Southeast has gone through many changes and Paula remains a constant for members. She has a good relationship with members and is helpful to branch leadership staff.

Kim Pullie
Kim is the Maintenance and Facilities person at Southeast. He works extremely hard to ensure that the building is clean and that things are running accordingly.

Southeast Stingrays swimming to Victory

The Southeast Y has restarted our tradition of having an outstanding swim team.

Several years ago there was a thriving team that dissolved when the head coach retired. This season is our second year of the new era as the Southeast  Stingrays! We started this season with 32 swimmers, up 33 percent from last year.

The Stingrays compete in the North East Ohio YMCA Swim League.  We swim in 8 meets during the regular season, including our District Championships on Feb. 4 at Akron University.  Swimmers that qualify, based on their times at Districts, have a chance to compete in the League Championship Meet at Cleveland State on March 3.

At press time, the team had competed in two regular season meets.  Our competitions are set up as “tri” meets where we swim against Hillcrest (with swimmers combined with the Euclid Y) and another team. Thus far, we beat Hillcrest at both meets and lost to the host teams. Our losses were to much larger teams who thus compete in more events and score more points. Many of our swimmers have placed in their events against these more experienced teams. Some even swim successfully against older swimmers because of their talent.

While we celebrate the victories, we have many other ways of measuring success. Every swimmer has improved their times. Many who belonged to last year’s team have swum lifetime bests already this season. All of our swimmers are displaying core YMCA values and learning many life lessons like delayed gratification, time management, dedication and perseverance.

As a team we believe that swimming is a lifestyle choice that our swimmers and their families will benefit from. Our team members enjoy the health and fitness benefits of their sport that help them maintain healthy body weight and strong cardiovascular health. We truly hope that Stingrays will carry these healthy habits throughout their life!

An enthusiastic, organized and dedicated parent board has ensured that we are ready to host our own home meet on Dec. 17 at Bedford High School. The same group of parents have a reputation for being the most supportive parent group in our entire league! We will be sure to remind Southeast members of the upcoming meet so you can see our team in action!

For more information, log onto the Y's Northeast Ohio swim team site here: http://www.neoyswim.org/.

Staff Updates

Marcus Bennett is a certified Group Exercise Instructor and Wellness Coach. Marcus moved to Cleveland in April 2011 from Toledo, where he was the Health and Wellness Coach for the Greater Toledo YMCA.   

He also taught physical education to grades K-12 at Alliance Academy for three years. His interests include track and field, football, weight training, and basketball.  Marcus teaches The MIXX and Boot Camp in the evenings.

Kevin McCardle came to us as Aquatics Coordinator after 18 years with Sysco Foods in Cleveland. He began his career there as a Seafood Specialist (yes, all of his passions seem to revolve around water) and was most recently in Business Resources, providing support to Sysco's best customers. Previously, he sold seafood for a local wholesaler, ran a fish market in Baltimore, and managed restaurants.

Kevin grew up in Syracuse, New York and studied music at Indiana University. He has two daughters, Corey, 19 and Erin, 23 and lives in Shaker Heights with his wife, Debbie Baum.

You will recognize Kevin from our Y, as he has been volunteering as a swim instructor and head swim coach since the summer of 2008. His passion and dedication to swimming began as a teenager, when he volunteered as an assistant swim instructor before he was old enough to work. He has taught people to swim ever since. 

As an adult Kevin found swimming to be a great contributor to both his physical and mental health. Wanting to give back to the sport, he has also volunteered for OHIO Maters Swim Club for 10 years and serves as Club President and co-director of swim meets.  He is also an avid kayaker and hiker.

Dining to Donate
Thursday, Dec. 29, 11 a.m. – 9 p.m. Bedford Applebee’s.