The following is written by Sumner Mayor Dave Enslow:

A year ago, the biggest news in Sumner was the opening of the Gordon Family YMCA.  Why (or Y) is this still big news, one year later? Because it’s great to see expectations met. The effort to bring the Y was really borne out of a group of Sumner individuals who met oneSaturday because they all felt that Sumner was missing something. Eventually, they defined that “something” as best filled by a YMCA. Were they right?

In its first year, the Gordon Family Y has proved to be extremely popular, some might say a little too popular, with over 20,000 members, most of those family memberships. Remember, Sumner has a total of 9,400 citizens. In that year, I’ve noticed many people in town working hard to get healthier, whether they are playing basketball, walking the track or using the pool. Some of our city staff and their families have ventured into the arts classes that make our Y so unique. Many families have been using the special events, from the swim classes to other community celebrations, while our teens and youth finally have healthy activity options on the weekend.

Sometimes, expectations are hard to meet, especially when we spend 10 years building those expectations.  But I think in the first year, the bringing the Y to Sumner has exceeded ourexpectations. Thank you to the YMCA staff and leaders as well as those Sumner-ites who had a vision 10 years ago and faithfully worked to see it through.

For more information about the YMCA’s programs, click here.