Buses will bring city children to Y
Officials detail Gloversville summer programBy KAYLEIGH KARUTIS, The Leader-Herald
GLOVERSVILLE - With the city's summer recreation program beginning at the Fulton County YMCA next week, officials there said they want children and parents to understand how to participate.
The program will begin Monday and last until Aug. 7. Most of the programming is limited to children between the ages of 6 and 14. There will be five hours per week of family activities when all ages are invited.
The Common Council approved spending $11,000 for the program at a meeting last week, favoring it over a swim program at the Gloversville Middle School that was conducted last summer and cost the city about the same amount.
YMCA Chief Executive Officer Steven Serge said the program at the YMCA will offer participants a variety of activities including swimming, sports, games and arts and crafts.
Children who want to participate must fill out an orange registration form and have it with them when they arrive at the YMCA or board a city bus to the Harrison Street facility. Serge said children must live in the city to participate in the program.
Registration forms can be picked up at the YMCA, the Fulton County Chamber of Commerce & Industry, City Hall and the city Transit Department. A city bus will leave the Transit Department on West Fulton Street at 10:45 a.m. and travel to a pick-up stop at the intersection of Fulton and Main streets and then go to the YMCA. A return bus will take children from the YMCA back to the four corners and then on to the Transit Department at around 2:30 p.m.
Serge said children will only be allowed to leave the Y on the city bus or with a parent or guardian. Children may arrive at the facility at any time during the program and can participate as often or as seldom as they wish, as long as they complete a registration form.
Serge said the YMCA is hiring additional support staff for the program, but it is unclear how many more employees will be needed because enrollment is uncertain.
Family activities will be offered in the game room Mondays and Wednesdays from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. and Fridays from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., and family swim times will be Mondays and Wednesdays from 8:30 to 9 p.m. and Fridays from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Transit Manager Al Schutz said children who leave from the Transit Department will be supervised. At the end of the program, the department will evaluate how well the bus route worked and the cost of it, he said.
"I don't think it will be a big strain," Schutz said. "We'll do what we have to do for the kids. I hope we can continue to have recreation in the future, wherever it may be."
Second Ward Councilman John Castiglione, who supported keeping the program at the middle school, said he hopes participation in the YMCA program is high, but isn't sure it will be.
"The numbers won't be like they were with the swim program [at the middle school] because everybody could go [to the middle school program]," he said. "At the YMCA, they're limited."
Castiglione said he is concerned the bus run and the supervision of the children at the transit department will cost the city additional money.
"I think it's a mistake [to pay for the YMCA program] when we had a good program [at the middle school] that everybody could participate in," he said.
Kayleigh Karutis covers Gloversville news. She can be reached at gloversville@leaderherald.com
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tinbucktoof
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07-02-09 3:58 PM
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Hey buck, I just read the letter to the editor from our illustrious leader, I am still laughing. He is a joke. I have been down to city hall numerous times to see the mayor. Guess what he is never there!! How can I get my answers if he is never there???
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cruella
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07-02-09 3:53 PM
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YOUR LETTER MR.HUGHES, How could anyone ever go to cityhall and find any truth out about anything???
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tinbucktoof
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07-02-09 3:47 PM
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Hopefully Sarge doesn't fudge the numbers in his favor when it comes to attendance!! At the end of this debacle, let's compare apples to apples!!
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DadsDeadbeat
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07-02-09 3:36 PM
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Buckeye, leave it to Perry Paul to not get the facts straight! I'm not surprised. I dont understand the big deal over copies either, Paul works for a*****printing company, cant he make as many copies as he wants?? As for the 1/2 hour swim - thats still plenty of time to catch every single disease in that pool. Good luck kids!
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rachelrae33
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07-02-09 3:34 PM
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chiseler and all of you: listen to you complain about something for most of you(non school and prop. taxpayers) get for free.If you noticed that family swim is offered three times a week. Not to mention you can't really walk to the middle school either.
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chiseler
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07-02-09 3:27 PM
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YDirector, the program you offer is a joke! It's obvious that you just wanted to get your hands on the $11K before the school did. The 1/2 hour family swim is an insult!
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buckeye
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07-02-09 2:59 PM
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lizzie...wasn't the city behind in school tax payments a few years back and didn't the school district agree to a payment plan over a few years to help the city out? Has this been paid up?
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lizzie
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07-02-09 2:32 PM
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There many school children who don't live in the city. Too bad for them. And, holy cow, a 1/2 hour family swin from 8:30 to 9pm. Hope kids already have their suits on, or half their time will be lost changing. Maybe no one did want to go to the "old Y", but no one had an issue going to the middle school.
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buckeye
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07-02-09 12:24 PM
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Check out the mayor's letter to the editor today. Wow, what a slug! If a written proposal was such an issue, why didn't he or the big blonde haired lady call and ask for one? It's all BS. Everyone knows they went with the YMCA because their noses were bent out of shape last year. Also, why can't Al Schutz give a projected cost for the transportation?
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rachelrae33
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07-02-09 11:24 AM
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Discobulous, are you trying to say you went to the old "Y" on a regular basis? Neither of the city "Y" were big enough. The new "Y" is beatiful, my family uses it a couple of times a week. Hats off the the YDirector and the entire staff, I never have to worry when either of my children are involved with any of your programs. It gives me time to use your great gym facilities.
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YDirector
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07-02-09 11:17 AM
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Dear Mr/Ms.Disco: the only problem is, nobody wanted to go to the old buildings. Even last summer when the Y was still downtown, no one asked us about doing a program then.
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Discobulous
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07-02-09 11:03 AM
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None of this would have been necessary if the y was left in the city where Y's belong.
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