The YMCA of Martha's Vineyard will reopen its doors to members Sept. 9, according to an announcement.
The stage was filled nearly to capacity with musicians, fans and their instruments. The crowd was raucous. The lights were bright.
As a special birthday treat to Derek Davies, one of the organizers of the Stars & Stripes Festival, the band St. Lucia was going to play their hit single September with the help of Haerts and a full entourage of Derek’s friends. St. Lucia’s frontman Jean-Philip Grobler pressed keys and twisted knobs on his synthesizer, cueing up September’s opening chords.
The stage is set at Alex’s Place at the YMCA every Friday night in July and August during open stage nights. Singing, dancing, performing stand-up comedy — you decide on community open stage night. A candlelit atmosphere sets the mood and all equipment is provided.
The community center at Woodside Village is a comfortable place with a decorated tree in one corner and a wall of drawings. “You are my BFF,” reads one.
The drawings are created by children in the afterschool programs at the YMCA who visit Woodside once a week as part of the Island Elderly Housing Bridging program, the brainchild of Blueberry Van driver Kevin McFarland.
“It’s a long walk,” said kindergartner Kamari Clements of the journey from the Y to the community center next door.
On a recent Monday afternoon the Makos youth swim team is practicing its freestyle strokes, swimming up and down the lanes of the YMCA, as co-coach Rainy Goodale, 42, demonstrates proper technique by making slicing motions though the air. A group of swim-capped youngsters watches, trying to learn by osmosis.
This weekend Mrs. Goodale will travel with the team to Eastham for the annual Southeastern Massachusetts Swim League distance meet. But the sport has taken her far outside the state lines of Massachusetts
There’s a fully furnished kitchen, living room, study area, recording studio, performance stage, pool table and sound booth. Not to mention two pinball machines.
The new YMCA’s Alexandra Gagnon Teen Center may sound like a hip downtown apartment building, but it promises to become a hub of teen life on the Vineyard.
After the opening of the center last Saturday afternoon, Island teens now have a place to call their own. Community members young and old gathered for a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate a safe and fun space.
Ripples were made for the first time in the brand new YMCA pool on Saturday. Nearly 60 guests were serenaded into the building by the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School Minnesingers’ rendition of the Village People’s YMCA, eager after waiting in the hot sun to sign up for summer programs or go for a swim.
