Half an hour before the facility’s 5:30 a.m. opening June 8, new members of the Northwest Family YMCA began lining up at the door of Onondaga County’s newest — and biggest — YMCA.
In its first four days, the NWFY had snagged 325 new members, many of them transfers from the North Area Family YMCA in Liverpool.
Neil DeLuca of Baldwinsville was the first one through the doors last Monday morning. DeLuca, who suffered a spinal cord injury a few years ago, credits YMCA programs and staff with helping him regain his mobility and shed 66 pounds. He began working out in December before the NWFY opened in Baldwinsville and was eager to continue his membership in his community.
“I got my son signed up here — it’s going to be a family effort,” DeLuca said.
DeLuca is training for a 5K later this month and recently was able to stop using a wheelchair and a lift van to get around.
“I’m just learning how to run again,” he said. “Today was the first day I ran without hurting myself.”
DeLuca said he expects people will be “floored” once they see the 100,000-square-foot facility on River Road.
“I think it’s going to be amazing,” he said of the NWFY’s impact on the greater Baldwinsville community.
DeLuca is looking forward to trying out the “lazy river” in the aquatics center, but instead of lounging with a pool noodle, he plans to walk against the current for some low-impact resistance training.
Ed and Betty Cranston, a B’ville couple, are fans of the new Y’s aquatic center as well. Betty Cranston said she had trouble getting in and out of the pool at her previous gym, and the NWFY’s warm-water therapy pool provides better accessibility.
“Our daughter’s a member over at the North [Area] Y — she’s over there every morning. She said, ‘Mom, you’ve got to see this gym, you’ve got to join,” Betty Cranston said.
While Betty is planning to get into the water aerobics classes, Ed Cranston is looking to swim some laps.
“Back in ‘52 and ‘53, I was on the swim team in Bowling Green, [Ohio],” he said. “I’m going to get over in the lap lanes.”
The Cranstons said the new Y will bring the B’ville community together and improve residents’ overall health.
“It should make people more active in their own lives,” Ed Cranston said. “You come here and you feel so much better. … Folks are very friendly here — we’re all here for one purpose.”
Betty Cranston said she and her husband ran into a few friends who had gone to their previous gym.
“I just felt like I was home,” she said.
Jill Borgstede, of Jordan, is excited about the prospect of making new friends at the NWFY. Previously a member of the North Area Y, Borgstede was happy to move to a Y closer to home.
“Everything here has been great — the staff are tremendous, the facility is beautiful and the people are fun,” she said. “It’s the whole package.”
According to Cary LaManche, the NWFY’s membership and marketing director, many of the NWFY’s new members are transplants from the North Area Y. She said some B’ville-area residents joined the North Area Y a few months ago with the plan of transferring their memberships to the new facility upon its opening.
While opening week was best described as “organized chaos,” LaManche said she had lots of support from her staff members and employees from other branches of the YMCA of Greater Syracuse.
“Whether it’s helping me train the front desk, giving tours or answering phones, we have some extra help so we can get members in here,” she said.
“I always love when we give a tour and I take them into the aquatics center and their jaws drop,” she added. “They’re excited to get in there and get started.”
In addition to getting new members in the door, the NWFY staff is emphasizing donations to the Y’s “All In” capital campaign, which has a goal of $1 million.
“There is an area on the membership application where people can round up their membership dollars [to donate],” LaManche said.
The Y’s communications director Chris Iven called these donations an “investment in the future.”
LaManche said the Y benefits not only its members but also its staff. Back in 2001, when LaManche was a stay-at-home parent looking to re-enter the workforce, she began working for (and working out at) the Y.
“I have found as a mom that the Y is a great organization where I can balance both my career and my family — where else can I bring my kids to work to swim while I’m giving a tour? I love coming to work,” she said.
LaManche said the Y offers teenagers a starting point for their resumes too. Many teens work as camp counselors or lifeguards.
For Susan Conklin, a Baldwinsville tai chi instructor, the NWFY gave her another opportunity to teach in her own community. Conklin also teaches tai chi through the Lysander parks and recreation department, Willow Health and Wellness Center and the Energy Lounge.
“This is a new thrill,” she said,
Conklin said one of the perks of working at the Y was a membership to the facility. She said her children are grown and out of the house, so she and her husband are looking forward to discovering some new activities through the NWFY.
“I’m not much of a swimmer, but that lazy river is calling my name,” she said.
