Beautifully preserved, handwritten notes from 115 years ago tell a powerful story of volunteer initiative. The notes show that in late 1894, dozens of volunteers began meeting with the vision of starting a YMCA organization in the Bellows Falls region. They also document that on September 2, 1895, Articles of Incorporation and By-Laws were approved by nearly 100 volunteer founders. The Bellows Falls YMCA had been born. Now known as the Meeting Waters YMCA, the volunteer-created and volunteer-led non-profit is celebrating its 115^th anniversary. Events are being planned for the fall throughout the regional YMCA’s service area which includes over two dozen communities of the Brattleboro, Bellows Falls, Springfield and Fall Mountain regions.

This year also marks two significant milestones within the larger YMCA movement. Father’s Day is 100 years old this year while YMCA camping turns 125. First celebrated in June of 1910 at the Spokane YMCA in Washington, Father’s Day is now recognized all over the world. Father’s Day was founded by Sonora Louis Smart Dodd, the daughter of a single father who served in the Civil War. On Mother’s Day in 1909 Smart Dodd heard a sermon honoring mothers and wondered why there was no similar tribute for fathers. With the support of ministers in Spokane, Smart Dodd launched the first Father's Day celebration at the Spokane YMCA on June 19, 1910. President Nixon signed Father’s Day into law in 1972.

Camping officially began at the YMCA in 1885, when a volunteer named Sumner Dudley helped start the first continuously-used camp in Orange Lake, N.Y. Dudley’s goal was to help build character in the teenage participants during their week-long camping trip. From the beginning, campers developed an appreciation for the outdoors, while forming new friendships and developing healthy life-long skills.

What began 125 years ago as one small group of YMCA campers seeking to grow closer in the solace of nature and work together as a team has blossomed into a summer phenomenon that has changed the lives of millions of youth around the world. During the last 125 years, the YMCA has become one of the nation’s largest providers of camping programs, with more than 335 resident camps and nearly 2,000 day camps that serve more than 800,000 kids and adults every summer.

Over the past 46 years, more than 10,000 kids and teens have made new friends, developed new skills, and created lasting memories through Meeting Waters YMCA’s summer camp programs.

For more on the YMCA’s local and national history, visit the About Us section of Meeting Waters YMCA’s website at www.meetingwatersymca.org.