SAYMCA October Newsletter

STAUNTON- AUGUSTA FAMILY YMCA

NEWSLETTER OCTOBER 2021

JOIN THE STRONG CHALLENGE P. 6

FEATURES: P.2 - WHAT'S OPEN? P.3 - UPCOMING SWIM CLINICS & MORE P.4 - CHANGING LIVES: NEUROWELLNESS P.6 - STRONG CHALLENGE P.8 - EXPRESSO Y MADNESS CHALLENGE P.10 - MEET CARTER RIVENBURG P.12 - A CLEAN SWEEP P.13 - 2021 DONORS: THANK YOU! P.15 - GROUP FITNESS SCHEDULE

WHAT IS OPEN HERE AT THE STAUNTON- AUGUSTA FAMILY YMCA COVID- 19 IMPACTS The Y is *Open: Mon. - Fri. 5:30 a.m. - 9:00 p.m., Sat . 7 a.m. - 7 p.m. and Sun. 1 - 7 p.m.

You can make appointments on the SAYMCA website saymca.org.

AROUND THE FACILITY: Social Dist ancing is encouraged: six feet around the building and 10 feet while you are exercising.

Masks are to be worn as recommended by CDC guidelines Nat ionwide Members and Guest s are welcome!

Men's, Women's and Family Locker Rooms are available. Locks available at the Front Desk for day use.

St eam Room and Saunas: No appointments needed.

Wat er Fount ains and bottle fillers are available.

Towel Service is not available.

FITNESS AND SPORTS: Wellness Cent er: No appointments needed: Available to members 12* and older. Sanitation bottles provided in the Wellness Center and around the facility. *12- 14 y/o must complete Yout h St rengt h Training to use the Wellness Center. *Equipment Orient at ions for Members 15+ are available. Sign- Up at the Front Desk.

Pool: Lap Swimming and Family Swim: No appointments needed.

Group Fit ness Classes and Wellbeat s: No appointment needed.

Pickleball: on Basketball Court: Monday - Friday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm / Sunday 1:00 pm - 3:45 pm Raquet ball Court s can be reserved for one hour on the hour.

Tennis Court is available for use by appointment.

YOUTH DEVELOPMENT: The Teen Cent er is available to youth age 12+ with membership. Open Monday - Friday, 3:30 - 7:30 pm Playroom: limited availability by 1.5 hour appointments for ages 2- 10 years old. Appointments available Monday - Thursday, 8:30 - 11:30 am / 4:30 - 7:30 pm

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SAW Tut oring: Free K- 12 online tutoring available! Go to sawtutoring.org to sign up.

STRONG Challenge: Registration is open! See page 6- 7 Expresso Y Madness Challenge: st art s Oct 14. Read story on page 8 Ref erral Program: Guidelines and October Prize on page 14

SWIM CLINICS Upcoming Swim Clinic Dates: Sign Up at the Front Desk

November 1st - December 15t h (reg. open Oct. 20th - Oct. 29th) January 17t h - February 23rd (reg. open Dec. 15th - Jan. 14th) March 14t h - April 20t h (reg. open Feb 23rd - March 11th)

Clinics offered to ages 4 - 18. Swimmers need to be able to swim 25 meters on their own.

Time: 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM Days: Mondays and Wednesdays

Court ney Clawson Swim Coach

Rat es: Member: $75 / Non- member: $90 3

CHANGING LIVES:

NEUROWELLNESS

By Chris Lassit er

Raph Yu grabs a two- and- a- half foot red measuring wheel and proceeds to the STAUNTONAUGUSTA FAMILY YMCA track.

He needs to collect some data. ?We?re just going to be walking for six minutes,? Yu explains to a tall, easy- going older man. ?And I?m going to be tracking your steps.?

Currently in his second year at the Mary Baldwin University Murphy Deming College of Health Sciences, Yu uses those six minutes wisely.

Dressed in a Murphy Deming hooded sweatshirt,

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khakis, and gray Nike running shoes, Yu learns all that he can about the man walking with him counterclockwise around the track.

By the end of the first lap, Yu knows where the man lived previously and currently, his career transition, and his most recently medical history.

Yu serves as a volunteer at the STAUNTON- AUGUSTA FAMILY YMCA?s Neurowellness Program.

Physical therapist Lee Baker brought Neurowellness to the YMCA to bridge the world of medicine and the world of fitness for patients who had suffered neurological damage.

As Yu prepares to enter the medical field, the Murphy Deming student treasures the opportunity to engage with real people. ?I think it?s great just being able to get out here and interact with people from this particular demographic,? he said. ?It also feels great to feel like you?re making a little bit of a difference in the community as well.?

THE MORE MURPHY DEMING, THE MERRIER If there?s any positive to the global pandemic, the shutdown allowed the YMCA?s innovators to re- imagine programming. Baker has already seen many heartwarming success stories through the Neurowellness Program.

The physical therapist has watched someone forced to give up their first love of golf become able to golf again. One person who took a half minute to do a simple walk test was able to reduce that time to six seconds. With that drastic improvement, that patient was able to resume sailing.

Still, Baker has dreams of seeing the program impact more people.

During the shutdown, Baker and Mary Baldwin

University Murphy Deming College of Health Sciences Director of Physical Therapy, Deborah Diaz, dreamed of how to deepen the collaboration between the university and the YMCA?s Neurowellness program. ?We started here three years ago, and students did one observation and left,? Diaz said. ?Lee and I decided that they needed to be here for a longer period of time. Two years ago was the first time we did a long- term commitment, and COVID hit.?

While the program was paused, Baker and Diaz kept dreaming. As the program re- opens, students will be assigned to the same patient each time for the four weeks of the program. ?That helps them develop relationships with patients,? Diaz said. ?Most of them have never interacted with someone who had a stroke or a brain injury. They understand the things I?m teaching them in class.?

The students are a great compliment to the existing Neurowellness team. ?We still have trainers from the Y involved and myself, a local physical therapy clinician,? Baker said. ?On Fridays, we?re going to be having an occupational therapy program, also run by Murphy Deming. We?ve had OTs involved in the past, but this will be an expanded version where they?ll be working with all the folks that want to come.?

Diaz loves having her Murphy Deming students volunteering at the Y. ?This is the best thing I do,? Diaz said. ?I get choked up every time I talk about it.?

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STRONGER inside & out "Let's discover what it means to be

STRONG t oget her " In the last 564 days since the COVID- 19 shutdown started, we've all suffered varying amounts of loss. It's been difficult, and it's been painful.

In our community, we've lost legends and loved ones, and often we've had to change how we said good- bye. We've spent months on end in our homes. Being emotionally and physically healthy is much more challenging than normal.

Now, more than ever, we need each other and that means being Stronger Together. Join our STRONG Challenge wit h your family and

f riends and we will help you get st rong physically and emot ionally!

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STRONG CHALLENGE 30 DAYS,100,000 TEAMMATES,150 MINUTES EACH WEEK

What is it ? o FREE 30- day challenge to help you strengthen your physical, mental, and spiritual health through activities that build healthy habits o FREE & Open to YMCA members and the community (non- members)

How do I regist er? o STRONG Challenge sign- ups are open now! Participants sign up by texting STRONG to 844- 889- 6222 & fill out the form linked in the text reply to complete their registration. You can also email StrongSupport@myy.org to sign up.

When does it begin? o The challenge officially begins on October 18th

How will I know what t o do? o Participants will receive 4 text messages each week with challenges, fun content, and ways to get STRONG o Free Virtual and On Demand Content for all participants, including: workout routines, classes, recipes, nutritional advice, playlists, meditation series, and more!

What happens if I miss one of t he 30 days? o Do not fret! This challenge is a journey, not a sprint. If you miss a day, come back the next one and try again! The physical goal each week is to move 150 minutes; Do your best t o reach t hat goal .

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EXPRESSO Y MADNESS

CHALLENGE!

By Chris Lassit er The STAUNTON- AUGUSTA FAMILY YMCA will compete in the Expresso Y Madness 2021 Challenge on October 14th.

The qualifier, open to YMCAs all throughout the United States and Canada, takes the top 16 YMCAs with the most miles accumulated on Expresso Bikes from midnight to midnight. Those 16 teams are put in a March Madness- style bracket and face off head- to- head until only one team is left.

In 2019 ? the last time the competition was held ? the STAUNTON- AUGUSTA FAMILY YMCA finished 14th overall to advance in the qualifier. ?We need as many riders as we can to ride on that day,? said Jeff Collins, business manager at the STAUNTON- AUGUSTA FAMILY YMCA. ?Before the 14th, we just really need to get the word out and get our existing riders to know about it, so they come and ride that day. And we need to recruit some new people to sign up.?

They were eliminated by the No. 3 seed a week later. ?They knocked us in the next round,? Collins said. ?It wasn?t really very close. In 2019, we qualified with 240 miles total. If we could exceed that, the more miles we get and the higher we?re seeded, we might have an easier first round.?

There?s an individual component to the competition as well. ?The top 25 riders make the all- tournament team,?

Collins said. ?For every 10 miles you ride during the tournament, you get a raffle ticket for a $500 cash prize.?

For more information on the Expresso Y Madness 2021 Challenge, check out the website: https://expresso.com/YMadness2021 or email jeff@saymca.org 8

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MEET CARTER RIVENBURG

By Chris Lassit er For Carter Rivenburg, lifting weights started out as a means to an end.

A new personal trainer at the STAUNTON- AUGUSTA FAMILY YMCA, Rivenburg?s first true love was football. ?When I was younger, I used to watch football and fell in love with it,? said Rivenburg, a Buffalo Gap High School graduate who played one year of college football at both Virginia Tech and Morehead State. ?I used to go out in the yard. I had these little medals I put it my mouth, and act like it was a mouthpiece. I had a little plastic Redskins (now Washington Football Team) helmet.

It all started from there. Once I started to play, from there my love just grew and grew and grew.?

As he started high school, Rivenburg realized that the path to football success went directly through the weight room. ?When I first started on junior varsity, I wasn?t very big or athletic,? said Rivenburg, who rushed for an eye- popping 3,000 yards his senior year. ?Once I started going in the weight room, I kept going. I haven?t really missed a week since I started. Eventually, I got really good my senior year.?

At some point during the journey, Rivenburg fell in love with the physical fitness journey.

The weight room wasn?t just a means to an end.

He?s now a certified personal trainer. ?That was always the plan,? said Rivenburg, who has his first Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fight scheduled for November. ?Even if I would have stuck with football for four years, that was the plan.?

That plan landed him at the STAUNTON- AUGUSTA FAMILY YMCA. Krystal Clark, Healthy Living Coordinator at the YMCA, believes Rivenburg has been an incredible addition. ?I?m excited to have Carter here at our STAUNTON- AUGUSTA FAMILY YMCA,? Clark said. ?He?s a wonderful asset. He?s a great athlete. Our style of training is very similar, along with our love for the fitness world.?

At the STAUNTON- AUGUSTA FAMILY YMCA, Rivenburg works with all sorts of people with a myriad of fitness goals.

In the future, he?d love to do specialized training with athletes. ?Eventually I want to get into prioritized athletes,?

Rivenburg said. ?There?s not anyone around here that does personal training especially for athletes getting them bigger, faster and stronger to get ready for college. When I was in high school, I kind of taught myself stuff, but I didn?t know what truly made someone get bigger, faster and stronger.

Now I do. I want to help athletes around here who, like me, want to go to college and play.?

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A CLEAN SWEEP

By Chris Lassit er Want to know what a casual dress shoe, a sledgehammer, and an empty bag of dog food have in common?

They are all items found by the STAUNTON- AUGUSTA FAMILY YMCA?s team of volunteers, picking up trash along a two- mile stretch of VA. 262. The YMCA staff cleans the same stretch of Middlebrook Ave. twice a year through the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) Adopt- A- Highway program.

According to the VDOT website, more than 23,000 Adopt- A- Highway volunteers collect more than 44,000 bags of waste along Virginia?s highways each year. Thanks to YMCA Business Director Jeff Collins ? who had the YMCA adopt two miles surrounding his childhood home ? VDOT can add eight more bags to the list. ?It looks great when it?s done,? Collins said. Collins always spearheads the effort, and YMCA Fitness Director Wendy Shutty and Aquatics Director Beth Valentine are also regulars.

New people are always welcome.

It was the first time out for staff members Cara Schaefer, Brandon Jones, and Andrea Ryder. ?It was a good time,? Ryder said. ?It felt productive, like I was doing something good.?

Members are always welcome, too.

Matthew Donato spent his morning volunteering as well. ?I enjoyed it,? Donato said. ?I was paired up with Wendy (Shutty). We talked about all types of world events. It was fun. The weather was perfect, and we made a difference.?

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If you or a group you?re a part of would like to adopt a highway, call 1- 800- FOR- ROAD OR send an email to adoptahighway@vdot.Virginia.gov

THANK YOU! 2021 DONORS SO FAR: Cathy Ballew Phillip Balsley Dennis Beadle Lee Beam Heather Berry William Blosser Arnold Bolstein Diane Bryant Jane Cangalosi Blair Coiner Josh Cole Ashley Cole Wanda Dawson Doug Degen Miriam Falkner Diane Fechtel Brenda Fisher

McKenzie Fitzgerald Michael Guertler Carolyn Harvick Christina Helmick John Hite Pamela Huggins Sara "Sally" James Sarabeth Johnson John Mark Johnson Kendra Jones Jeanette Keller Haley Kirschnick Steven Klein Barbara Knopp Sally Landes Elizabeth Lane

Amazon Smile Foundation Blackbaud Giving Fund Community Foundation Fidelity Charitable Grant

Nancy Love Robert McCarty Joe McCue Cody McLain Ingrid Moore Mary Ann Morriss Megan Owen Kirt Patterson Maggie Ragon Lenny Rexrode, Jr. R. Macon Rich Brian Ringgold Margaret Roberson Karissa Ruiz Bonnie Ryder Larry Schaeffer

The Hershey Company Interactive Fitness Holdings, LLC Kroger Community Rewards

Robert Scott Larry Shenk John Sherwood Rhonda Shinaberry Roller Shipplett William Sibert William Sowers, Jr. Mary Spangler Joy Shultz Jodi Tibbs Richard Townsend Paul Vames Louise Whipple Patricia Yacisin Mark Yurish

Network For Good Staunton Jr. Women's Club The Real Estate Group Truck Enterprises, Inc.

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MEMBERS: PRIZE FOR OCTOBER:

Gift Certificate to

MARTIN'S Food Market 14

Visit SAYMCA.org/programs/group- f it ness/class- schedules/ for mont hly Aquat ics, Basket ball Court , Group Fit ness, and Playroom schedules.

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Visit Us: 708 N Coalt er St St aunt on, VA 24401 Cont act Us: 540 - 885 - 8089 @st aunt onaugust af amilyymca @saymca

Learn More: www.saymca.org

JOIN TODAY!