Sign up for our great new class starting in January!!! Enjoy Tango along with our exciting new Zumba class! Come dance with us and enjoy this exciting Tango class hosted by Jackie Wong and her husband Paul Marshall.

Changes

Please be aware that we have changed our up-and-coming Zumba schedule. Orginally this was going to take place on Tuesdays at 4, but due to a high member request we have changed the class to Thurdays at 6:45 p.m. starting on January 14, 2010. We hope to see everyone there. I am so excited to get this class jumped off! It will be great to bring a little bit of Rhode Island with me.

http://bit.ly/4SBW4A Iberkshires covered our press release yesterday. The YMCA is extremely happy to have started a relationship with them. I would recommend them to any local business here in the Berkshires...

As stated above, as part of the renewal process of our facility not only will be we starting new fitness classes, but we are trying to bring in a Dodgeball league for young adults over the age of 21. We recognize that there is a need for more activities for the youth and this is just the start of what we have in mind. Eric Tyer will be organizing the league that will start in late January, so feel free to contact him at 413-499-7650 ext. 33 to join this innovative team.

Kid's Night Out this Saturday from 6-9 p.m. is looking nothing but promising. The YMCA has over 20 children scheduled for the event tomorrow which is putting a smile on all of the staff's faces. It is great to see the changes that have been occurring over the last month.

Have a great weekend all!

For the Children This Weekend

This Saturday join us for the 2 events we have going on for the kids:

1) Barefoot Books Fundraiser

and

2) Kid's Night Out


Join us for these fun events this weekend including our youth basketball game on Saturday from 9 a.m.- 1 p.m.

How About More of a Focus on Family?

Retro Fitness and Planet Fitness have been giving The Pittsfield Family YMCA a run for their money since they started offering low, low prices for those who want to simply enjoy a treadmill or lift a few weights...

They lack fitness classes

and

they lack a pool

and

they lack a place for children to grow up.

We need to think of our families even in these hard time.

What kid of experiences can our children have? Who can they meet? And what are they going to do once they are out of school for the rest of the day.

Here in Pittsfield we sadly have a rise in teenage drunk driving and teenage pregnancies. We need to bring them to better places and help them to grow with one another.

Instead of going to Planet or Retro have your workout at the YMCA while your children or teens enjoy a youth sport, the pool, or a basketball game and while they grow up with their FRIENDS.

Progress

Our new infant room is precious. The faces of those children can make anyone smile or want to have a new baby. I love that it is one of the first rooms you see when you go through the second entrance door. Click here to view our article.

I AM EXTREMELY HAPPY to announce that on January 12, 2010 we will be offering a FREE Cardio Zumba orientation class at 4 p.m. This is part of our new plan to revive the Pittsfield YMCA and we are making great innovations! All members and non-members are welcome to join us for our fitness classes.

New Changes and New Ideas

My weekend went by super fast. I found myself back in the place that I call my second home; Providence. Not much as changed, but it was not as homey as it had been before...perhaps Pittsfield is rubbing off on me.

Myself and 2 of my co-workers ventured to JcPenneys on Saturday morning in order to promote the JcPenney Round-Up event. "The store was packed with their numbers up" according to and Mike Taft theGeneral Manager. He was great and things are looking it.

We have announced the coming of our Annual Triathlon today. It will be on January 9, 2010.We are looking into bettering our fitness schedule and adding on new classes with flare. Classes that in the making will be Zumba, Specialized Yoga, and Tango. Stay tuned for more news on these.

Kayak Indoors!!

Check out our fun and new kayaking class that will take place on every Sunday until March. For beginners or experts (as long as you have your own equipment.)

JcPenney Rounds- Up Change for the YMCA

We are happy to announce that the Berkshire Eagle has published our fundraiser. You can read the article here.

Help the YMCA to win a grant from Berkshire Bank.

Place your vote here.

Strong Social Media Aids our Strong Kids, Family and Community

I am very excited to witness our new Twitter followers that we have gained just within 3 days time. Social media is so convenient that it has been hard to imagine the world without it.

I created my first website when I was 12 and then continued to be competitive with a best friend of mine when I was 13; creating html and dealing with coding on a daily, hourly basis, solely for fun. We would see who could make the better frames with more links and things to do on their page. I still remember the sites that would have the click counters to borrow and we would see who had the more popular ideas.

A few years later unfortunately, I fell out of it. To this day I still wish that I had stuck with it. I do not see myself as being out of the look, but the web has become so much more useful in the past 10 years.

My first blog was created when I was 14, but it was just mindless babble and I stressed my need to be heard on sites like Teen Open Diary (which is no longer even runnning). Now I take pride in my newer blog: http://writingandwritten.blogspot.com/ , even though I do not update it as much as I should.

Anyway, The Pittsfield YMCA is proud to be up-keeping our social media through the use of facebook, twitter, and various online postings of events and our business directly. I have also personally become a huge fan of http://www.berkshirenonprofits.com since they are providing free publicity for all of our organizations in the county. Any company that is aiding non-profits deserves a thumbs-up in my book...I should also include idealist when I mention this too.

Have a good weekend all, keep posting, I will return on Monday.

Positive Cultural Change

There is a true need to bring more life, diversity, and fun to the Pittsfield Family YMCA. This is an organization that takes pride in treasuring our youth and unique members. We are looking into adding new programs, dance classes, computers and more. Please let me know what you believe is needed!

Increasing Family Time

The Pittsfield Family YMCA is looking into expanding the family aspect of the organization. We want to make sure that people are able to use their memberships to their full capacities. The YMCA is looking into bringing back "Family Fun Nights" as well as more slots for the youth that have memberships in order to increase friendships and bonds. Any and all suggestions are welcome. Feel free to contact Susan at sjacobs@nycap.rr.com.

Thanksgiving and Thank yous

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! We will be closed tomorrow so that everyone can enjoy their local (or perhaps not so local) family and friends. Have a safe long weekend.

Is anyone indulging in food other than turkey? Perhaps a vegan based meal?

Reminder: Only about a month left for our end of the year promotion where a new member can sign up and still waive their joiner's fee.

Enforcing Strong Kids, Strong Families, and Strong Communities in 2 States

The Pittsfield YMCA is happy to be able to offer members the chance to see all of the YMCA's across Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

The reciprocal program offers all current paid members of our Y to enjoy any other YMCA's within 2 states for no extra charge. So if you are traveling to the neighboring state to see a friend, to attend an event, or anything else, you will still be able to enjoy your experience with the same friendly organization.

8.5 Million Children in the United States Are Enrolled in a Form of Childcare

Today we are getting the word out about the Afterschool Fund. From December 4 until December 13, 2009 JcPenney at the Berkshire Mall will be helping to donate to the Pittsfield Family YMCA's After School Care Program. This program is fundraising made simple, in other words, when one checks at out at JcPenney cash register they will be given the opportunity to "round-up" their change to the next dollar. The left over change will then go on to benefit the YMCA's growing program.

For more informaton, one can visit JcPenney's website at http://www.jcpenneyafterschool.org/.

We want to make sure that people from Pittsfield are aware of the the numerous childcare programs that the YMCA has to offer and that it is knowledgeable of the fact that financial aid is available to any and all participants who would like the options. Our childcare spans from the age of 1 month to 10 years of age. Call 413-499-7650 for more information.