I hope that the summer is treating you well and you have had the chance to get away with the family for a little down time. The YMCA's full time staff had the chance to get away and reenergize our batteries at our national YMCA convention in Salt Lake City this past month. This conference is held every three years and our staff is thankful that our volunteer board of directors recognizes the value of training and conferences to help keep our staff at their best and abreast of the latest trends.

During this national conference the YMCA of the USA unveiled a new logo. Some of you may have heard on the national and local news that the YMCA logo has changed. It looks a little different but the real news is the brand revitalization that we will be going through over the next year. The real story is about how we speak about the valuable work we do in our communities. The message that we want to get across to our communities is that we focus on three areas; youth development, healthy living, and social responsibility. Over the next year your YMCA will be transitioning from the old way of telling our story to the new, which will include changing all of our   logos. We are excited about the brand revitalization and will be planning an event to kickoff the changes here in Atlantic. Stay tuned for more information.

You may have noticed that this past month we took two days to refinish the gym and tile floors, and they look great. We also took a couple weeks to do some maintenance work in the pool area. You will notice we had the spa repainted, power washed the pool deck, and drained off half the pool water and refilled with fresh. We appreciate your patience as we completed this work. The YMCA Board of Directors and staff take the responsibility of keeping the facility, equipment, and grounds in top condition so that our community and members are provided a first class experience. If there are facility or grounds issues you see that we may not have, we welcome your input. This is your facility.

Our fitness staff is excited about the coming of the fall season as we get ready to introduce two new group fitness classes. Stay tuned for the launch of these classes and get ready for some inspiring and fun workouts.

And finally, we are getting ready to wrap up the 2010 Partnership With Youth Campaign. If you have not contributed to this scholarship and youth development campaign you may still do so. We are well on our way to the $80,000 goal but we could still use your help. Can you help? Maybe an end of the year gift works better for you? Just let us know if we can help. There are many good causes here at the YMCA and if you have something specific that you want to fund just let me know and we will be happy to work with you. An example of this is new weight scales found in both locker rooms and on the landing in the stairwell. A big thank you goes out to Delmar Patterson for providing the scales for the benefit of all of our members. We do appreciate your generosity to your fellow community members.

Thanks for your time and have a great month!

Dan