March 3, 1999

New director's family is all about the YMCA

By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
     
      For Bill McAllister, the YMCA is just an extension of his family.
      The new executive director of the Grand Traverse Bay YMCA, McAllister has worked his whole professional career directing programs at various YMCAs in Ohio. As a young man he 'grew up' in Y programs, starting as a lifeguard and then coming onboard as a full time program director after graduating from Bowling Green State University in 1976.
      He met his wife, Cathy, at a YMCA in Fostoria, Ohio, and both their children are now actively involved in numerous programs. His family's values are the YMCA's family values: caring, honesty, respect and responsibility.
      "The Y is a place where kids and families come to have fun," said McAllister, a Saginaw native who grew up in Lima, Ohio. "It is a very positive atmosphere and we welcome anyone regardless of age, gender, race, religion or income."
      McAllister relocated to Traverse City last month to take over leadership of the Grand Traverse Bay YMCA. His extensive background in directing YMCA programs and proven track record of building and expanding their facilities made him a natural fit for the job, which had been vacant since August.
      "Bill has a proven ability to work with the community and is very personable," said Ken Petterson, president of the YMCA board of directors. "He had the best blend of experience, including 23 years of Y experience, helping to build a new facility and running a capital campaign."
      This experience is crucial because a long-range goal identified by the YMCA board is to build a new YMCA facility for the region, and a swimming pool would be a part of that. The Civic Center pool is the only public pool in the area and swimming programs are severely limited because demand at that aging facility far outstrips the capacity. The YMCA, known nationwide for its aquatics programs, offers a minimal number of swimming programs because of a lack of facilities.
      "So much of the lifestyle here is built around water activities," said McAllister, who has vacationed in the region with his family for decades. "There is so much we could do with water safety instruction, and water fitness and water therapy are also important. Swimming is a lifetime sport."
      The Grand Traverse Bay YMCA serves a five-county region that has seen explosive growth in the past decade. Current membership of the Grand Traverse Bay YMCA stands at 2,500 members with a steady increase in membership each year.
      To meet the needs of this growing population, the Y offers a broad range of programs, from childcare and teen dances to all types of sports activities for individuals and families. Because each YMCA is locally controlled, they can offer programs based on the community's needs or wants. A recent kickboxing class was added to meet member demand and is proving extremely popular.
      McAllister has found that the highlight of his career with the YMCA has been working with the people he meets every day, whether they are staff, members or volunteers. Moving to Traverse City recently and just starting to know the community, he sees unlimited potential because of the people who live and work here.
      "There is tremendous potential in this community," McAllister said. "The most satisfying thing for me is to see the individual development in people; buildings going up are also satisfying but it is what goes on in those walls that counts."