YMCA honors members, employee of the month

By Alexandra Osborne

Communications Coordinator

The Sweet family is just as their last name describes them: Nothing but sweet! When you are here at the Skaneateles Y, you are bound to bump into one of the members of this clan- Dee (mom), Payton (14) or Colin (12).  Between shooting hoops, exercising and socializing, the Sweets feel right at home at our Y.

When our gymnasium addition was completed last year, that was the deciding factor for Dee and her boys to join the Y as members. As a stay- at- home mom, Dee would bring the boys when they were little to the pool for free play and swim lessons, but the gym sealed the deal with a family membership for this sporty family to access all that our facility has to offer.

Outgoing and friendly, Payton is very involved in various clubs and theatre programs in school, and also assists his mom when she coaches. Younger (but just as tall) Colin enjoys the freedom of being able to walk to the Y after his school day is done to shoot hoops with his buddies, and often spends his summer days with friends at our Y.

After running into our Health & Wellness Director, Helen, a few months ago, Dee had a renewed motivation to set new years resolutions and meet her goals for the spring. She said that “Helen is the reason” that she signed up for Commit to Be Fit, a small, dynamic fitness bootcamp. Ambitious and energetic as she is, Dee now shows up for Commit a half hour early to shoot some hoops as her pre- warm up.

When it comes to encouraging others to pursue their wellness goals, Dee practically and matter- of- factly said: “You have to do it when you are ready. Getting healthy can be a simple process but you have to want it and do it for yourself. It doesn’t have to be a new years resolution; it’s just like paying off debt or painting a room in your house, you can do it whenever you are ready.”

While this family is very sports-driven, they are even more community- driven. Natives to Skaneateles, Dee and her boys know (and keep an eye on) just about everyone. To them, the Y is more than an ice rink or a gymnasium; it is a social center of their beloved community. Dee agreed that our Y is a safe place for her boys to hang out and has been adaptable to their ages as they have grown up.

Congratulations on being our Members of the Month, Sweet family!

Happy New Year from the Skaneateles Y! We hope that you had a joyous holiday season with your family, friends and community. Now with resolutions in your hearts, we are excited to see many new faces fill our Y.

As we set goals, resolutions and a wellness battle plan for 2017, this month we bring to you a staff member that is a remarkable example of what it looks like to pursue wellness while balancing life.

As Staff Accountant, Tiffanie’s job requires concentration, accuracy and focus. As a driven individual, she admits that she could easily pour herself into her work and leave her desk at the end of the day feeling accomplished, but drained. Once she began using her lunch break to incorporate a workout into her schedule, she noticed that she had more energy to finish out her day. Her fitness journey with the Y began by taking advantage of the equipment in the fitness center. Being a working mom, she admitted that finding the time to workout can be a challenge but the convenience of having the fitness center and group exercise classes just upstairs from her desk make it even easier to incorporate working out into her schedule. When she transitioned from working out on her own to yoga classes, she saw the value of group exercise. Attending group exercise classes has given Tiffanie a sense of belonging and motivation. She said that over the past 5 years of working at the Y, her state of mind has been more positive, she has gained energy and transferred weight to muscle.

Long before she was an employee, the Y was impacting Tiffanie’s life. Every year for Christmas as a child, Tiffanie would receive a Y membership.  This allowed her to be involved in youth activities such as swim lessons, from a young age. When she had her own family and was beginning her career in the finance world, she looked to the YMCA for quality childcare and programs for her sons. Now, the Y is an integral part of her, her husband, DC, and their son’s lives, as Darius (14) and Tyrel (9) utilize the Y facilities each and every day.

Her first big project at our Y was heading up the 2012 Annual Support Campaign. She said, “I have always had a passion for nonprofit organizations.” Filling this role allowed her to organize the campaign efforts and raise awareness that the Y is a not- for- profit that relies on the generous support of our community.

As Tiffanie celebrates five years with the Y this month,, she stated that the most rewarding part of her role at the Skaneateles Y is finding solutions to help other people, as well as the connections that she makes with members- existing or future. She praised the flexibility and opportunity to be a contributing part of the organization as she shared a story from just this week. With the front desk staff busy, she was able to leave her desk for a few minutes to offer a building tour to some new members. Based on her friendliness and willingness to show them our facility, they thought she was one of our Member Service Representatives from the front desk! That scenario is a little arrow pointing to the bigger picture of the opportunities that the Y offers to never be restricted to your title or position, but to be given the freedom to go the extra step for our members.

As the financial aficionado, she has become friends with the local bank tellers. Several of them have joined the Y because of Tiffanie’s love for the Y and passion for wellness. It is her desire for other’s to experience the benefits of a fit life, like she has. She encourages us all by sharing that, “99 percent of the battle is just gathering the motivation to get to the gym.”