Growing With The Times By David Wilson TTIhe YMCA is a good I place to get started I living a healthier lifestyle, and the new edi- tion of the James A. Henry Branch at the Eastgate Town Center has really taken off on solid ground, said executive director She'rri McCle1lan. The branch was named in 1953 forJames A. Henry who was the first African- American principal of a school in Chattanooga in 1894. There is a lot of history at the J. A. Henry YMCA, and one day soon She'rri will have a waII of distinguished people at the new location. She would like to have a fam- ily reunion for everyone who has ever been a member of the branch, and she would like for them to take part in the festivities when they have their reunion. Many people learned how to swim there and some played checkers there. These are the older members that go back to the beginning and she feels they would enjoy the reunion, She'rri said. The real reason for the move from Park Avenue was to increase the rnembership because it had become stag- nated or, even better put, non existent, and it was time to come on line with the new generation of fitness, child care, preschool and health awareness that is now preva- lent in our society, she said. She had a goal to increase the member- ship and get more money from the pro- grarns that she offered and it has worked far beyond her projections, because when they were located on Park Avenue they didn't have any members, iust people using the facility, and now they have almost 600 members since March, she said. She'rri has been with the J. A. Henry YMCA for one year. She started at Park Avenue and when it was time to move she worked with the architects and took paft in the planning and designing of the r6 Photos bY Charles PaYne Mrs. She'rri McClellan knows her business which is working with people and she has a knack for getting the best out of them. She'ri keeps a smile on her face because she loves her work . building and ordering the carpet, paint and furniture. It was definitely a grass- roots project that she is very proud of, she said. It's really going great and she couldn't have found a better place to relocate the center, she said. They have been able to triple their day care and are able to hold B0 children in their preschool, even though they don't have that many yet, but it is more than what they had at Park Avenue. They have eight classrooms for their licensed preschool and a fenced-in playground is under construction that will have trees for shade and a community room for different organizations to hold meet- ings and receptions. The YMCA offers a mem- bership nursery for parents with children who are six and under and a teen center that has computers, board games and table tennis to eneourage people with ehildren to come and enjoy the facility and not worry about the kids. This used to be a deterrent for the YMCA in gaining members and for members who were parents because they had no one to watch their children for them while they worked out, she said. They have a spacious facil- ity that has a men's and women's locker room and a glrmnasium with six basket- ball goals that is lined for vol- leyball. It has a sauna and steam room and a cardiovas- cular machine on the premis- es. As you can see, they are well equipped, as they should be because they are under the umbrella of the Chattanooga Metropolitan YMCA. The Henry YMCA though, is unique and has its own personality in that it's not so big you have to wait or so small that there is no room. The teen center offers things through networking to help the teens get involved with other students in the organi- zation, Mrs. McClellan said. She'rri was determined not to bring any of the o1d furni- ture with her from Park Avenue, because they wanted to create a new image and encapsulate all the positive things that were at the old facility but start a new era at their new facility. A lot of help came from suppo6 ers who were partners with them in this venture and it has paid off. The board of directors looked at a capi- tal venture to see how we could conserue money and yet get the most out of the dol- lars that we received through an endow- ment and a capital fund-raising campaign, she said. That helped us make the move to Please see Growing page 19