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NEWS
1,200 Rail Against ‘Train Parking Lot’
Golden Opportunity NORTHBROOK YMCA CELEBRATES 50TH ANNIVERSARY BY LIBBY ELLIOTT
BY STEVE SADIN
DAILYNORTHSHORE.COM
DAILYNORTHSHORE.COM
More than 1,200 people heard a select group of neighbors, an expert and public officials including two members of the U.S. Congress explain why five miles of railroad holding tracks should not be built in Glenview, Northbrook and Lake Forest. The speakers laid out their case March 12 at Glenbrook South High School in Glenview, stating that a proposed expansion of Amtrak Hiawatha service between Chicago and Milwaukee need not include holding tracks to allow faster passenger trains to pass slower freights. Those in attendance also learned they will have an opportunity to lobby representatives of the decision makers during a public meeting this spring. The Village of Glenview organized the gathering. The strong public interest centers on a proposal by Amtrak to add three daily round trips to its Hiawatha service between Chicago and Milwaukee. The project is under consideration by the Federal Railroad Administration, Illinois Department of Transportation and Wisconsin Department of Transportation. Glenview officials have been fighting the proposed inf rastructure needed to accommodate the increased traffic for nearly four years. Lake Forest, Northbrook, Deerfield and Bannockburn joined the effort in October Continued on PG 5
Northbrook resident Bill Buttimer has been a lifelong patron of the YMCA. A self-described “military brat” who bounced from town to town every two years as a child, Buttimer and his family would unpack their moving boxes and then search out the nearest Y. “For me, joining the local Y was a way of getting embedded in a new community,” said Buttimer. “My first swimming lesson was at a Y in Denver. I joined my first swim team at a YMCA in Montgomery, Alabama.” As the North Suburban YMCA (NSYMCA) kicks off its yearlong 50th Anniversary celebration, loyal members like Buttimer are taking stock of the Y ’s long history, as well as its invaluable contribution to their lives. For five decades, the NSYMCA’s 80,000-square-foot home base on Techny Road in Northbrook has played a vital role in the community, providing fitness facilities, swimming lessons, art classes, child care and summer camps to thousands of people of all ages and socio-economic backgrounds. On any given day, the NSYMCA may be holding swimming lessons for special needs students, leading group yoga classes for seniors, or teaching coding to children. What ’s more, the NSYMCA’s classes are available to everyone in the community, regardless of their ability to pay. Buttimer and 500 other NSYMCA supporters just capped off the organization’s annual Strong Kids dinner on March 8 at Pinstripes in Northbrook, where attendees raised nearly $400,000 to subsidize memberships and programming for the new fiscal year. “One in four people who walk in the Y ’s door are receiving financial assistance,” said Laurie Schults , the NSYMCA’s 50th Anniversary chair. “They could be your neighbors…you just never know.”
The North Suburban YMCA is celebrating 50 years in operation.
Founded by Ken and Alta Thiel in 1961, the NSYMCA sponsored a variety of youth and family programs at various sites around Northbrook. A multiyear fundraising effort culminated in the construction of the Y ’s current building at 2075 Techny Road, which opened in 1969. To celebrate its golden anniversary, the NSYMCA will kick off a series of new strategic initiatives to guide and grow the non- profit, non-tax supported organization to serve the local community’s changing needs, and secure its financial future for another 50 years. The NSYMCA’s 50th anniversary initiatives are as inclusive and diverse as the organization itself. Among those programs to be launched in the coming year: a water safety program for 2nd graders called “Too Seconds, Too Long;” a new suite of chronic disease prevention programs; upgrades and expansions to the existing facility
including a new pool pump, HVAC system and roof replacement; and the establishment of a long-term endowment fund. “The Y is not just another place to work out or swim; it seems to improve the lives of people of all ages throughout the community,” said Howard Schultz, NSYMCA’s CEO since November 2006. “The Y is a movement. It doesn’t stand still.” With 8,500 members and 13,000 program participants across 15 different ZIP codes, the North Suburban YMCA is a thriving, vibrant model of success, lauded by the Y-USA umbrella organization for its modern, renovated facility, generous scholarship fund, and balanced budget. But Schultz remembers the year he took over as CEO, when the NSYMCA faced an uncertain future. The combination of faltering leadership, an aging buildContinued on PG 5
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