Brynn Grimley writes:
I attended this afternoon’s Haselwood Family YMCA
groundbreaking in Silverdale and have to say it was
quite the to-do.
The Central Kitsap High School Jazz Band provided the music,
there was catered food and it was standing room only under the
white tent situated in the corner of the Regal Cinemas parking
lot.
Festivities were typical for a formal groundbreaking ceremony:
gold shovels, hard hats, a bulldozer and more elected officials and
community leaders in attendance than one could count.
I took a number of photos, which I’ve posted below. I’ve also
provided highlights of what was said during the ceremony before the
gold shovels dug into the gravel to mark the start of construction
on the site.
Probably the biggest highlight of the afternoon was the surprise
announcement by Joanne Haselwood’s son Rick Wiler that Al Courter,
owner of Honda Auto Center of Bellevue, was pledging $100,000 to
the Haselwood Family YMCA capital campaign. But he didn’t stop
there, Wiler then announced he and wife Kari were matching
Courter’s donation, also pledging $100,000 to the campaign.
After the ceremony Haselwood said she had no idea her son or
Courter — a good friend of her late husband Chuck Haselwood — were
going to make the donations. It took Haselwood three meetings
before she determined she was willing to pledge $2.5 million to the
project, she said. She knew her husband would have supported the
idea, and decided to make the donation because she wanted her
husband’s name to be remembered forever, she said.
“If you had asked Chuck: ‘We need $2.5 million to get this
started,’ he would have said yes without thinking,” she said.
“We’ve always donated to the Bremerton Y.”
By the end of the festivities Friday the capital campaign grew
by $250,000, bringing the new total to $9,735,056.
YMCA leaders have a minimum fundraising goal of $12 million, but
hope to achieve $15 million for the project. After the recent
giving, they’re optimistic they’ll hit that $15 million goal,
according to Bob Ecklund, CEO of the YMCA of Pierce-Kitsap
Counties.
Ron Ross and wife Nadean were the first to get the ball rolling
on large contributions to the capital campaign. The couple donated
$1 million, but as Ross said at the groundbreaking, it was the
county’s commitment to that got their attention.
“I think it is so wonderful that the county has stepped up,”
Ross said. “When Nadean and I saw the effort the county put in, we
got behind it.”
Kitsap County Commissioner Josh Brown said the Ross’ donation
proved many naysayers in the community wrong. Because it took 11
years for construction to begin on site, some people believed the
Central Kitsap community campus concept was a “pipe dream,” saying
the leadership needed to complete the project didn’t exist in
Silverdale, Brown said.
The Ross and Haselwood families proved them wrong, he said. He
also said the financial investment being put into the facility —
now slated to be close to 86,000 square feet — will be returned to
the community likely two years after it opens by way of financial
assistance given to members to guarantee everyone, no matter what
their social status, can use the facility.
Once the facility is open, it will cater to all walks of life in
the community, Ecklund said.
“This YMCA will serve generations to come, four, five
generations from now,” he said. “It will change the community
forever.”
Many of the Central Kitsap Community Council leaders were on
hand to see their vision finally take shape — Hank Mann-Sykes made
sure to grab a handful of gravel to take home to commemorate the
day. He joked Thursday if he had to arrive on a stretcher he would
because there was no way he was going to miss the event. (Luckily
no stretchers were needed).
The facility is slated to be open by next summer. In the coming
months I’ll use this blog to give construction updates, and will
let people know when they can start applying for memberships (for
those super planners out there, mark Sept. 18 on your calendars
because that’s the tentative date for an event to get charter
members signed up).
And finally, here are the photos of the days events:
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