Six months ago, the Grand Traverse Bay YMCA had 851 members. Today, nearly 2,100 are members– in reach of the organization's original goal of 2,300 members by the end of 2015 -- a year early.

Board President Lynn Schultz believes the membership boom is the community saying, “We’ve been waiting for you, and thank you.”

Much of the membership growth at the new facility on West Silver Lake Road can be attributed to its long-anticipated star attraction –the Robert C. Foster Family Aquatic Center lap pool that opened on Monday, more than two months after the rest of the facility. The eight-lane, 25-yard pool ranges from four to 13 feet deep and also includes a one-meter springboard and two handicap chairlifts. In addition to regular lap swimming, the pool will be used for competitive events, swim instruction, Coast Guard training and water fitness programming (view the December schedule here).

No More Y Gymnastics
Betsy Van Deinse, longtime leader of the Y’s gymnastics program, is now running the gymnastics program independent of The Y. The name has been changed to Grand Traverse Bay Gymnastics but the program remains in the YMCA-owned Woodmere Avenue facility, which is being leased to Van Deinse Enterprises. Classes and practices continue as scheduled.

Van Deinse started the program 13 years ago. Her husband Tom Van Deinse parted ways with the organization this past August after serving as CEO since 1999. The board has never explained his departure other than to say it was looking for a “new direction.”

Betsy Van Deinse says the family approached the Y board about taking over the program.

“We really wanted to break away from the Y … really wanted this to be our own,” she says.

Van Deinse says while it isn’t unusual for a Y to have gymnastics programming, it is unusual to have the kind of success this program has experienced – when they travel for competition, she says, they are often mistaken for a private club.

Betsy’s three daughters – Gina, Jennifer and Kelly – also instruct at the facility and focus on the competitive team, while Betsy focuses on the recreational program. The Van Deinses’ sons, Joseph and James, continue to coach tennis at the new Y facility.

CEO Search
After the board appointed Carolyn Helmlinger to the interim CEO post in October, a national CEO search through YMCA of the USA yielded 63 applications. Nine have been selected for telephone interviews, according to Schultz, and those will be further whittled down to three finalists, who will be brought to Traverse City later this month.

Schultz declined to confirm if there are any local candidates. The Y’s search committee consists of members of the board, interim CEO Helmlinger and individuals from the community.

The plan is for the new CEO to start “as soon as possible,” she adds.

What’s Next?
The “old Y” Boardman facility remains abuzz with activity, according to Helmlinger, with pickleball and basketball filling up the courts daily. Helmlinger says local roller derby terms will also be utilizing the facility for their practices.

Meanwhile, completion of Phase 1 of the new YMCA does not mean the beginning of fundraising for Phase 2 – $3 million for a gymnasium and indoor running track.

“We have a $4 million mortgage on this building,” says Schultz. “We need to work on that mortgage first … get our feet planted firmly on the ground.”