Fond memories from the old downtown YMCA

Since we did not come to McCook until 1957, the memories I have of the YMCA, on the corner of Norris Avenue & E Street are those of an adult. I have some good memories of the Y, but nothing like those of fellows who grew up in McCook.

For instance, Dr. John Batty was a pre-teenager when the Y was built in 1925. He remembers that he could not wait till they could finally use that marvelous facility, with a gym, and an indoor swimming pool (the only one in the area) -- surely a miracle for an 11-year-old boy.

But what struck him most were the showers. He had never used a shower before, but the concept of rinsing off was to him so much superior to a bath in a tub that he vowed that he'd never take a tub bath again -- and never has.

Shortly before his death, Ken McGooden recalled some events over his many years living in McCook. One Y memory he would just as soon have forgotten, but over the years he had gotten to see the humor of the event.

Ken apparently had gotten his days mixed up, and picked a day when women and girls took over the swimming pool. He thought it was a bit strange that he was the only one in the Men's locker room who was getting ready for a noontime swim (in those days swimmers swam in the nude), but decided he was just a bit early.

He disrobed and left his eye glasses in his locker and went into the pool area. (Ken had very poor eyes and really didn't see much without his glasses.) He had almost made his way to poolside when he heard giggles -- female giggles. He realized his mistake immediately.

It was ladies day at the pool! He made his retreat into the locker room as quickly (if not gracefully) as possible, but he said that that hurried walk back to the locker room was the longest walk he ever made in his life.

In 1957, McCook was just emerging from a bad time, economically speaking.

There had been a prolonged drought, ag prices were low, and money in the community was tight. The McCook YMCA had been affected by all of these factors. In addition, the building was showing severe signs of its age.

The floors creaked, the whole building needed a new paint job, and the furnace needed a new boiler. There was no money to pay for any of these things.

In the late '50s, John T. Harris, the owner and manager of DeGroff's Department Store, was President of the YMCA and he took it upon himself to do something to spruce up the old building and fix the boiler problem.

What he did was to arrange for a series of luncheon meetings at the Y for business people downtown. Over a couple of months Harris hosted these "Brown Bag" meetings.

I'm sure that he covered the cost of these lunches out of his own pocket. By the time I got my invitation John T. had gotten pretty good at his job. He promised that we would be back to work in an hour and we were.

While we ate our lunch, John T. told us about the history of the Y -- in such glowing terms that we all went away feeling that we were indeed fortunate to have such a jewel -- the savior of our youth -- in McCook.

After we ate, John T. led us on a tour of the building, from the top floor to the basement, pointing out the problems, and painting a verbal picture of the possibilities for the different parts of the building.

At the end of the tour, John T. gave us a breakdown of the costs involved in getting all of the repairs made, while holding up the examples of men like Mr. Frees, Louis Suess, A. Barnett, and Charlie Heber -- men who really cared for their community.

It was quite a spirited presentation, and apparently was effective. I know, in speaking to others who attended the luncheons, that we did what we could afford, and felt guilty that we could not do more to help "our youth -- the future of our community."

In looking back, the list of things that the Y needed was endless, but for that moment we raised the money to paint, fix and get a new boiler. (A few years later, Stan Marr and some others organized the United Fund Drive, to raise money for the Y and other worthwhile community projects and this has greatly helped to ease the Y's ongoing money needs.)

After the Y got its face-lifting, we held a little party, on a Sunday afternoon. People brought salads and desserts and somebody (probably John T.) furnished the fried chicken for the group.

Then the big group was broken up into small groups and everyone got to make the tour of the spruced up Y and see the great strides that had been made.

While the tours were going on, people got to make use of the Y facilities. A ping pong tournament was organized for individuals and teams, made up of young and old members. One of the popular events was a free-throw tournament in the gym. There were several of the hot shots from the high school and college teams competing and they took great pride in showing off their shooting skills, but the real star of the tournament was E.P. Baruth. (E.P. had been a standout high school athlete at Indianola.

In his senior year, Indianola High won the State Class D track meet, with E.P. as the only member of the team. In 1958, E.P. was the long-time, and much loved, coach of the very successful McCook Junior College track team.)

By 1958, everyone in basketball had adopted the overhand shooting technique for shooting free throws, which approximated the regular field goal shooting style.

Not E.P. He still used the underhand technique that he had used in high school. It looked out of place and awkward, but round after round he kept swishing his shots, as he bested the best of the current high school and college stars. What is more, he seemed to get better as the afternoon wore on and he got more practice -- probably the first practice that he had had in years.

Anyway, as the tournament drew to an end people started watching in earnest and it was clear that E.P. was the sentimental favorite. As the last two contestants completed their tosses, and E.P. had prevailed, the whole gym erupted with cheers.

Always the good sport, E.P. rushed over to shake hands with his opponent, even before Vern Blank, the current President of the Y, handed him a little trophy.

What great fun. In visiting about the event afterwards I was told, "Nothing new. E.P always wins!" This was borne out again a few years later when we dedicated the new Y, and named the walking/jogging track to honor E.P. Baruth.

He again won the free-throw tournament, besting the best high school and college players, and his old track team members.

In the late '60s the McCook Y board decided that one way of increasing membership might be to form a "Health Club," on the second (main) floor of the Y. Accordingly, a comfortable room was partitioned off, carpeted and stocked with a few weights for lifting -- though lifting had not yet become so important to the Y program. The focal point for the new "Club" was the Sauna.

Saunas were still thought to be a Finnish custom and were quite new in the US. Walt Kirkigard, a Lutheran pastor, and former standout football player for Dana College, was one of the leaders of the Health Club movement. He helped create a brochure, which spelled out the benefits of such a club and organized speakers to visit the Service Clubs, the Radio stations, and anyone else that might listen.

The result was the Y was able to sell enough memberships for the funds to create the room and install the Sauna in just a few weeks.

I don't know how healthy the health Club was, but for a few years it proved to be quite a popular place to hang out. I managed to get over there two or three times a week, in the late afternoon, and there were always a few people "working out."

We enjoyed the Sauna, and if nothing else, there was always good conversation.

Recently, we attended a wedding in Grand Island, which was attended by a number of nieces and nephews. As is the case whenever relatives get together, the talk turned to memorable times in the past. One of the memorable times that they all remembered, fondly, was the time they had the YMCA gym all to themselves.

At the time the ages ranged from maybe 12 downward. I was on the Y board at the time, and in that simpler time, as a board member, I had a key to the Y.

In the evening, after supper, when little people were getting too rambunctious, I took the whole group over to the Y.

I declared the pool and the rest of the building off limits, but they were able to use the gym -- and use it they did, to shoot baskets, play tag, racketball, and generally run off excess energy. Jean and my sister had a bit of free time to play piano duets, and the kids had a wonderful time -- forming memories they are still talking about 40 years later.