Member Spotlight

Five, Ten or Twenty years…how long does it take before a person or a couple in this case, becomes a “fixture” at a place? We don’t know for sure, but we can say that Lionel and Sharon Herioux have been at the YMCA long enough! Because they are a “fixture” here and that means the…

Laura Piron doesn’t do endorsements for Nike but she could! She’s got a smile that can light up a gym and she loves their long time slogan “Just do It”! She is also an extremely good example of what a good fitness program looks like. At 57 she has the profile and energy of women…

Art is very thankful to be able to tell his YMCA story. In July 2013 he was in a near fatal car crash. “My car was t-boned and rolled over on the highway, he recalls”. As a result his neck and back were broken in several places and had to have surgery to correct that.…

If you asked Joe Muelhaus what’s important to him, without a doubt the first things he’d list is his family; his wife Barb, daughter Jennifer, son Adam and his grandson Finn, after that, it might be basketball. He puts it this way: “I love basketball and the YMCA had noon ball for me to play.…

Imagine swimming 2,042 miles! That would be from Escanaba past the furthest western shore of California. That is exactly what Ruthie Vinette has accomplished at the Y. Ruthie was born and raised and spent the first part of her adult life in Green Bay, WI. She and her brother and two sisters spent a great…

Sue’s Y journey initially began in 1985 when a friend coerced her into a water aerobics class and she was instantly hooked. When the current facility opened, she began attending the early morning lap swim and since then has only missed weeks when she was sick or out of town. Friends, old and new, continue…

Zach Rose is a Y Kid through and through. It started “way back” when he was 6 years old and first attended YMCA Day Camp. It was an experience that changed his life. Zach was a shy kid back then but quickly made many new friends and developed great confidence in himself. He has since…

If you are in the Y when Tom Blahnik is, you will be treated to one of the biggest, day brightening smiles ever. Tom has been a Y member off and on for the past ten years. He grew up in the Carney Nadeau area. He worked for the State of Michigan Department of Human…

Sometimes good things come in really small packages. Take Makenna Mills for example, at age 4 she’s small, but has a really good YMCA story. Listen to her Mom Tonja, tell it: “Makenna started coming to the YMCA Childcare program when she was just 2 ½ years-old. It was a big change for her going…

Linda Asselin is a woman with a history….a YMCA history that is. The married Mother of two children (Tony and Marcey) and the proud grandparent of two grandchildren (Karia and Prestyn) has been a YMCA member for over 14 years dating back to her days in Wisconsin Rapids where she worked in the education resource…