Sunday's Column - Y.M.C.A.

We have a lot of camps up here in Big Bear.  Most of them have some sort of religious affiliation, and one of these is the Y.M.C.A. camp in Fawnskin.  Perhaps it is the elevation of Big Bear that attracts devotees of the deity as it does mean the attendees can be closer to their goal.

Volunteers sort through a recent donation from REI

As for the Y.M.C.A. they have recently changed their name to the "Y," which is what everyone has been calling it for ages.  It's also open to girls as well as every other denomination so that would explain the lack of the "M" and the "C," wouldn't it?

Just before Christmas, the local Y received a generous present from a firm called REI.  They had suffered a big fire in their Eugene Oregon location and gave 34,000 items to the association.

The Y.M.C.A. was founded in London in 1844 by George Williams, who had left his rural home to find his fortune.  He also found that the city offered no respectable place for young men to relax.  Only "sinful" places seemed available.  Today there are 45,000,000 members worldwide. A lot come up here!

You can read the entire column at http://www.sbsun.com/trevorstravels/ci_17107287