ISSUE 09 JULY 2012 A Message from QUARTERLY the CEO NEWSLETTER In The Wizard of Oz, the great and powerful Oz was discovered when Toto pulled open the curtain and revealed this issue to Dorothy and her friends Waste Water Treatment Plant Good Stewardship P.2 the man controlling Emerald City. Becket-Chimney Corners Service Corps Partners with Project Native P.3 YMCA doesn’t have a curtain Sioux YMCA Introduces Campers to Indian Culture P.4 hiding levers and gizmos that make camp a real life fantasy. “Doc” Irons to Receive Highest Award P.5 Rather, we have some behind Alumni Notes P.7 the scenes daily operational realities that you don’t necessarily think about when camp comes to mind. New Springfield College Partnership with For many of you, Becket- Berkshire Outdoor Center Links In-School, Chimney Corners YMCA is a little piece of Oz, a rustic After School and Summer Programs wonderland where children discover the special virtues Springfield College has selected Becket-Chimney Today, Springfield College stands ready to train and within themselves. To Corners YMCA’s Berkshire Outdoor Center to be educate other youth agencies like YMCAs to implement preserve this 1,400 acre land, the first youth agency to pilot their Leadership in LACES in their communities. the Board of Trustees’ Risk/ Academics, Community Engagement and Service (LACES) program to five Hampden County (MA) Brenda Marsian, Chief Development Officerfor Becket- Audit Committee oversees Chimney Corners YMCA, was previously Springfield and mitigates risks related to public schools beginning in the fall of 2012. Established in 2004 by Springfield College professors College’s Director of Development and familiar with natural disasters, accidents LACES’s early success and saw an opportunity to and injuries and ensures Dr. Ted France and Dr. Al Petitpas, LACES is a youth development program for underserved children with introduce the college to the exceptional work of the compliance with federal, state Berkshire Outdoor Center. and local regulations. the objective of developing community leaders and engaged citizens. “I knew Ted wanted LACES to be transportable to other The Environmental Protection “As an educator, it always concerned me how communities and Berkshire Outdoor Center Director Agency, American Camp Steve Hamill wanted to broaden the Center’s outreach Association, State of segmented a child’s life can be between school, after school and summer programs. There was to more communities and it seemed like a win-win to Massachusetts, and Town establish a connection between the two. Steve and of Becket are just a few limited collaboration between public schools, parks and recreation departments and other child service I believe LACES has the potential to be a national of the regulatory agencies YMCA program and we want Becket-Chimney Corners that enforce updates and programs to create a cohesive experience for children. We developed LACES as a solution to link these YMCA to be at the forefront of introducing the LACES changes to our facilities and concept to the YMCA of the USA.” So Brenda made protocols. As good stewards, three components in a child’s life with a focus some introductions and the partnership began. we ensure the camps are in on leadership development and community compliance, despite having engagement,” says Ted, who never intended “The Berkshire Outdoor Center prides itself on an annual operating budget to run LACES for the last eight working with young people with limited or no exposure that is stretched to meet the years, nor expected to see the to the rustic outdoors and to be the firstYMCA to apply expenses of these regulations, results of having over 1,000 kids LACES to new communities is exciting and a perfect many of which require capital participate and benefit by grade match to our mission,” says Steve Hamill, who has improvements, increased improvement, increased high already hosted seventy LACES participants this spring insurance costs and other school graduation rates and with positive results. expenses. college placement. In this issue of the Becket- Chimney Corners YMCA (cont’d on pg 5) NEWS, you’ll get an inside (cont’d on pg 2) Above photo: Chimney Corners Camp alumnae Nancy Tallman and Gayle Root Reu reunite at a recent Becket-Chimney Corners YMCA event in California. Gayle was Nancy’s counselor in the 1950s and the women had not seen each other since camp. BCCYMCA News Issue 09 July 2012 Waste Water Treatment Plant an Example of Good Stewardship Thirty years ago, Becket-Chimney Corners YMCA didn’t have to worry about dams and septic tanks being compliant or up to code according to state, federal and environmental regulations. Today, the list of regional regulators the Camps and Berkshire Outdoor Center are accountable to is growing, including the DEP, ADA, ACA, Conservation Commission, Dam Safety, and historic preservation, just to name a few. “I think we do a good job keeping ahead of regulations and building positive relationships with these agencies. We treat them like a partner in helping to best serve our mission,” says COO Jim Brown, who credits the Facilities Department of the YMCA for being on top of managing The Facilities Department stands beside the sand pit section of the Waste Water Treatment the 140 buildings and 1,400 acres of property, and taking on the 24/7 Plant. Steve Turner, first row far right is joined by his Facilities Team: operation of the waste water treatment plant. Back Row: Dave Wright, Don Chaffee, Jim Atwell, Larry Pease, Gary Clark; Located on four acres abutting Camp Becket, the waste water treatment Front Row: Paul Casino, Diane Wright, and Steve Turner plant was built in 2006 to replace the aging and inefficient septic tanks who are busy year-round finishing construction cabins, landscaping, adjacent to every wash house at each of the camps. cleaning lodges following every Berkshire Outdoor Center group visit, maintaining 13 aging vehicles, and snow plowing miles of roads that can “When you take take up to two days to clear. Message from the CEO care of a 109-year-old (cont’d from cover) facility, buildings and Six years and $4,000,000 later Becket-Chimney Corners YMCA boasts look at our facilities department, and equipment get old. And two miles of underground piping directing waste to a settling tank, how a small team of eight staff members that included the tanks, followed by four filtering tanks that chemically treat the waste and then ensures we have a safe physical plant which had become faulty. and meet all of the mandated regulatory aerate it before recycling the now transformed, nearly drinkable water issues, including successfully operating We needed to update into six pits with six feet of sand. a multi-million dollar waste water the process to current treatment plant. standards,” explains Run by full-time licensed operator, Don Chaffee, the recycled water is Steve Turner, Director of tested every 24 hours to ensure there is no ammonia, nitrates and BOD Just as Becket-Chimney Corners YMCA Facilities, who leads a (biochemical oxygen demand) prior to being sent to the sand pits. adjusts and adapts to mandates, so do team of eight full-time our travel partners, including the Sioux The Commonwealth of Massachusetts makes random site visits to YMCA in South Dakota, which serves and five seasonal staff ensure quality maintenance of the plant and Don is required the poorest region of the country. You’ll meet Sioux YMCA’s executive director to document his testing to the Commonwealth daily. and learn how our REACH campers help meet their mission every summer. “On a Moms’ and Dads’ Weekend we can have 29,000 gallons of water processed through the plant,” explains Also, I am particularly excited about Don. “The plant is licensed for 40,000 gallons a day, so two new partnerships, one between we are more than equipped to handle the 2,000 campers, our Berkshire Outdoor Center and visitors and parents who come each summer.” Springfield College that will embark on a new youth development program this Being good stewards of a facility the size of a small fall and Camp Becket’s Service Corps service outreach with Project Native. town requires money, and the $1.5 million Facilities budget, including salaries and benefits, is covering loan Even with the many operational payments for the waste water treatment plant, rising challenges we handle, our focus is utility costs, and property and liability insurance. always on changing lives for good through our exceptional programs. “ We are busy,” says Steve, “but we Amici & Agape, A glass of clean water, the results of the are keeping pace of all that needs Phil Connor Waste Water Treatment Plant. to get done.” 2 Camp Becket Service Corps to Build Project Native Trail Camp Becket’s Service Corps was the first group Project Native contacted when they learned they were the recipient of the Housatonic Heritage Partnership Grant. Camp Becket Service Corps gets right to work on creating an interpretive trail for Project Native. The $5,000 award allows Project Native to build an interpretive “What is nice about this project is that our Service Corps can return to trail on their 54 acre Housatonic farm, and Education and Outreach Project Native annually and maintain the trail. In the future, I hope to Coordinator Karen Lyness LeBlanc knew the Service Corps was expand this partnership to have Project Native visit Camp Becket and the right group of volunteers to build the trail. teach us how to build an educational trail for our campers to enjoy,” “Camp Becket’s Service Corps has been out to Project Native in says Camp Becket Executive Director Chris Burke.