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YOUR SSY ON THE FLY YOUR BRANCH PUBLICATION FOR SOUTHERN SARATOGA YMCA NEWS

OUR MISSION

To put Christian principles intro practice

through programs that build healthy

spirt, mind and body for all.

UPCOMING EVENTS & IMPORTANT DATES

April 1-30th

Shen Food Pantry Collection

April 2nd

World Autism Awareness Day

April 7th 5:30-7:30pm

Bounce House Night

April 8th 10-12pm

Easter Egg Hunt

@ Camp Field (Weather Permitting)

April 14th 7-10am

3v3 Basketball Tournament

April 16th

Easter YMCA CLOSED

Enjoy your day!

April 17th-21st

Spring Break Week

Vacation Club, Sports Camp,

Cooking Camp

April 29th 10-12pm

Healthy Kids Day

And

World Tai Chi Day

Spring II Session

May 1st-June 17th

SOUTHERN SARATOGA YMCA

1 Wall Street, Clifton Park, 12065

April 2017

www.cdymca.org

As the nation’s largest operator of swimming pools, the Y

gives more than 1 million children a year the skills they need

to be safe around water.

Drowning is a serious threat to the health and well-being of

people across the U.S., particularly children and minorities.

According to the Centers for disease Control and Prevention,

drowning is the second-leading cause of death for children

ages 4 to 14.

- Never leave children unattended, and stay vigilant when

around any body of water.

- Designate a “Water Watcher” to supervise children around

water. This person should not read, use a cellphone or be

otherwise distracted.

- Inexperienced and non-swimmers should wear a Coast

Guard approved life jacket around water.

- Children should stay away from pool drains, pipes and other

openings to avoid entrapments.

To learn more about the Y’s efforts to help all children stay

safe around water, visit ymca.net/watersafety.

THE WORLD IS

71% WATER YOUR CHILDREN ARE

100% CURIOUS

Safety Around Water

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Meet the Staff of the Southern Saratoga YMCA

Darrah Osgood

Teen Coordinator

Mike Scidmore

Program Director

Aaron Ditch

Membership Director

Sarah Heslin

Executive Director

Cheryl Misiewicz

Member Services Mgr.

Kim Dandino

Childcare Director

Guy Beattie

Property Director

Libby Volkmann

Kidzlodge Director Allison Reinhardt

Wellness Director

Alex Ranucci

Aquatics Coordinator

Christopher Mann

Wellness Coordinator Pam Capuano-Hodge

Aerobics Coordinator

Jenn Kendrick

Regional Aquatics Director

Lori Delehanty

Membership Coordinator

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Employee of the Month: Marissa Forte Marissa Forte has been with the Y for 4 years, as a lifeguard in Aquatics who transitioned to also working the Wellness floor and quickly became one of our most reliable employ-ees. Marissa is excellent at keeping our pool deck safe and is always a source of knowledge for our newer lifeguards. She is an excellent swim instructor and is able to relate to some kids who could be viewed as challenging and she is able to help them to work up to their ability. While working for the Y, Marissa has continued her education and achieving her de-gree in Nutrition and Exercise Science. In the Wellness Cen-ter, you can find Marissa diligently working to provide mem-bers with a clean, friendly atmosphere. Her knowledge as a NSCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist is evi-dent in the programs she designs for her training clients. Marissa also recently achieved the ACSM CIFT credential, al-lowing her to provide training to individuals with mobility im-pairment. Marissa is extremely knowledgeable in first aid practices and arrives at Code blue situations in warp speed fashion. She is an asset to the Y because of her knowledge and her willingness to continue to improve her skills.

Healthy Laughs

Member of the month: Robert Sweet

Robert Sweet has been a member of ours since the 90’s and let me tell you his last name is a very good descriptor for his demeanor. Robert has been a good friend to the Y since I can remember. He can be found in the wellness center inter-acting with members in a positive way or at the front desk welcoming a new member to the facility by introducing him-self saying, “are you a new member? Let me be the first to welcome you to our beautiful YMCA, we have great people here.” I have even witnessed Bob enchanting a group of in-dividuals with a history lesson while getting his blood pres-sure checked in the lobby.

I think we can all learn a lot from Bob about a great many things.

Nomination by, Aaron Ditch

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A man is walking in the desert with his horse and his dog when the dog says, “I can’t do this. I need water.” The man says, “I didn’t know dogs could talk.” And his horse says, “Me neither!”

Member Lars Liebmann

sporting a 2016 Distance

Festival shirt down in Flor-

ida after completing his

race. Looking good Lars!

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Active Older Adult Corner: provided by Lori Delehanty

1st ANNUAL WOMEN’S

NIGHT OUT — SOUTHERN

SARATOGA YMCA was a

success.

We had a wonderful evening cel-

ebrating women, both as wom-

en owned business vendors and

attendees who came to see all

the great items these business-

es provide our area.

We had 40 vendors in both

gyms A and B and attendees

were pleased with the event

asking for another women's

night out next year. Thanks to

all our vendors and those that

showed up to shop, visit and en-

joy each others company.

Wednesday, April 5th—10:30—12:00 Art Class

Wednesaday April 5th—BP screening 10:30—

12:30 pm

Wednesday April 12th—Medicare presentation

10:00—11:00

EVERY WEDNESDAY — POTLUCK

LUNCHEON FROM 1:15—2:00

SILENCE DE-STRESSES THE BRAIN

The human brain does not function optimal-

ly in society’s noise-filled environment. The

brain, like the body, needs rest to function

and that comes with silence. A recent

study in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience

discovered that the brain is able to inte-

grate both internal and external information

into a “conscious workspace” when resting.

Constant distractions and noises can de-

tract from the brain’s ability to process crit-

ical information.

Noise also elevates stress hormone levels.

Gary W. Evans, researcher and professor of

human ecology at Cornell University, notes

that when exposed to constant noise, chil-

dren develop a stress response that causes

them to ignore it. The subjects tuned out

both harmful sounds and stimuli that they

should be paying attention to, including

speech. Silence has the opposite effect, re-

leasing tension in brain & body.

To help counter modern noise pollution, it is

suggested that individuals placed in envi-

ronments with lower levels of sensory input

can recover some of the cognitive abilities

they have lost.

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Positive Mindset

You have to appreciate people with the right outlook

on life. Member Gail Perry made her stamp on the

winter storm we had on March 14th by making a snow an-

gel at 4:50am, before our doors opened. A snow storm cant

keep our dedicated morning crew away, Of course this is

just before the snow started to really pile up.

Thank you for being you Gail!

Mini Hulk!

A young man named Angelo Disonell came into the Y and our Mem-

bership Director mistakenly said “are you a Ninja Turtle? I love Ninja

Turtles.” Little did he know Angelo was dressed as The HULK. Ap-

parently Angelo loves the outfit and wears it regularly. We quickly

made it right by getting our “HULK Hands from the back office and

putting them on Angelo, he was so happy. It goes to show you a

simple gesture can make anyone's day.

On the right track

Member Tanya Giaminelli (Prev. Member of Month Jan. ‘15) has been

with us for over two years now. Her energy and positive attitude have

made an impact on fellow members. We are happy to help her celebrate

a significant lifestyle change and announce her new measurements (with

her permission).

June 2016 March 2017

Waist: 36“ Waist: 27.5”

Hips: 42“ Hips: 36”

Thighs: 23“ Thighs: 19”

Arms: 13” Arms: 10”

The Southern Saratoga YMCA Membership Committee is organizing a Membership Mile-

stone Breakfast on May 20th at 10:00am. If you have been a member for 10 plus years

we are honoring you! We hope to share some great stories of years past and take the

time to thank you for your dedication to your health, but also to the YMCA.

See Membership Director, Aaron Ditch for more details.

RSVP required.

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These numbers are produced based on total visits to the YMCA per

month.

This is where we highlight our Top 20 members that use our facility each month.

These members are dedicated to their health and well being and should be com-

mended for hard work and efforts. Be sure to congratulate them on their dedi-

cation.

Chawla, Navjeet 46

Biswas, Amit 40

Krause, Leeann 35

Felt, Austin 31

Hartnett, Carolyn 31

Singh, Krystle 31

Kim, Jong 30

Kotovich, Tatyana 30

Nichols, Duane 30

Notro, John 30

Van Wagenen, Daniel 30

Barringer, Charles 29

Earnest Jr, Samuel 29

Macuirles, Louise 29

Parker, Alton 29

Wong, Chi Wah 29

Barbour, Cheryl 28

Beyer, Danny 28

Ghoshal, Krishna 28

Kim, Yoohee 28

Larkin, James 28

Lloyd, Sylvie 28

Park, Eunyoung 28

Valente, Edmond 28

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Property Department

Job Openings The property department has four job openings.

We are looking for (Y) minded staff to help fill our department; if that’s you, please apply.

We have the following opening’s.

Maintenance Technician

Two Overnight Custodians

Opening Custodian

Please see front desk for application or email resume to gbeattie@cdymca .

Guy Beattie

Property Director

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Y-TIME SPOTLIGHT-ORENDA/KARIGON

At the Orenda/Karigon Program, 5th graders have been given the opportunity to help organize and run

games in the gym, make suggestions for lesson planning and assist with other, fun program

activities. We call these 5th graders, “CITs” or “Counselors-in-Training.” Through their participation, our 5th grade CITs learn leadership skills, the value of volunteering and responsibility – all while having a lot of fun in the process! See below for some pictures of

the kids in action.

Childcare Department

Child of the

Month

The Child of the Month is Abigail Stopyak. Abby is a third grader attending Karigon and she has been helping just like a 5th grade CIT. Abby has been work-ing on a very special “thank you” project to give to a woman who kindly do-nated a tree that had fallen in her yard for arts and crafts projects. Abby is painting a picture on a piece of the wood using the cracks in the wood to form a dolphin’s tail. Her crea-tion will also include a painted, “thank you” mes-sage. When not in our pro-gram, Abby has many ex-tracurricular activities but is still always thinking of how she can brighten the days of others by making thoughtful gifts of appreci-ation. We are very proud of Abby and her spirit of selfless giving.

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WELLNESS DEPARTMENT

April is National Stress Awareness Month!

Join us for FREE Anger Management seminars put on Sister Priya is a Raja Yoga Meditation Teacher at

Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual Organization and Peace Village Retreat Center. She is a meditator for more

than 15 years. She is a speaker, teacher, writer, blogger and co-ordinates outreach activities for Brahma

Kumaris, USA. Her talks are practical, inspirational and guides people towards a deep meditation experience

through her guided commentaries.

Please bring a journal and pen. You are welcome to join any session, however joining from the first session

will give you complete benefit of the workshop.

Sundays , 1:30-2:45 p.m.

April 2– Understanding Anger and it’s Types

April 23 - Creating and Reprogramming of Habits

April 30 – Ways to Overcome Anger

New Group Exercise Instructor

Introductions

ERIKA OZOLS:

SUSAN TORELLI:

SISTER PRIYA:

Erika is a SPINNING® instructor

who comes with 8 years of experi-

ence teaching SPIN as well as oth-

er group exercise formats. You will

find her subbing classes for our

team while she acclimates to our

branch.

Susan comes to us w ith years

of experience teaching Step in

various facilities in the Capital

District. You will find her teaching

on Saturday mornings 9:00-9:55

a.m.in the group exercise studio

Stop by and take her class for a

great workout.

Sister Priya comes to us w ith 15

plus years experience with Raja

Yoga instruction, Meditation , and

as a teacher, writer and blogger.

Please join her for free seminars on

Sundays April 3, April 20 and April

23 from 1:30-2:45 p.m.

Help us welcome our new

Team members! INGREDIENTS

2 6-ounce cans chunk light tuna, drained (see Note)

10 cherry tomatoes, quartered

4 scallions, trimmed and sliced

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons lemon juice

¼ teaspoon salt

1 15-ounce can small white beans, such as cannellini or great northern, rinsed (see Ingredient note)

Freshly ground pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS

Combine tuna, beans, tomatoes, scallions, oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a medi-um bowl. Stir gently. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Make Ahead Tip: Cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days.

Nutrition: Serving size: 1 cup Per serving: 199 calories; 9 g fat(1 g sat); 6 g fiber; 20 g carbohydrates; 16 g pro-tein; 17 mg cholesterol; 2 g sugars;

Tuscan Tuna Salad

Add new flavors to an old

favorite

Courtesy of Eating Well

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Program Department

Bring this coupon when

registering your birthday

party and receive $10

Clifton Park Hoop Shoot Results

L to R: Omri Karo (father), Adurey Osterlitz (ER), Aidan Karo, & Mike Bloss (PSP) We are happy to announce that our Boys 8-9 winner, Aiden Karo, was crowned State Champion at the 45th NYSEA An-nual State Hoop Shoot Championship in Glens Falls last Sat-urday. The 'HoopShoot' Finals were sponsored by Glens Falls Elks Lodge #81. Aiden hit 33 straight foul shots to win in the fourth overtime!!! It was unbelievable. Kaleigh Montanez (10-11 girls) took third place after a shootout for second. She was very competitive in a hotly contested age bracket. We are very proud of both of these young people as well as all the contestants who represented Lodge 2466 throughout this competition. In addition to Aidan and Kaleigh, Jack Chenevert (10-11 boys), William Shea, (12-13 boys), Layla Chenevert (8-9 girls) and Kaycie Cusack (12-13 girls) were Lodge champions. Audan’s father Omri played professionally in Israel in the early 2000s. Aiden now will travel to Wilkes-Barre Pennsyl-vania to compete against the State Champions of New Jer-sey and Pennsylvania for a chance to become 1 of 12 Na-tional Finalists in Chicago, Illinois in April! Good Luck Aiden!

Registration is now open for

Spring II

Classes Sign up today at the front

desk for Spring II

which will run

May 1st– June 18th

Free Family Fun Easter Egg Hunt

We need your help to collect all the

eggs around the facility. This is a

FREE event open to families with kids

of all ages. We also will be having

activities such as:

Take a picture with the Easter Bunny

Have fun creating a masterpiece with our

Easter craft

Jump around in the bounce houses

Age Start Times

0-2 years old 10-10:20am

3-5 years old 10:30-10:50am

6-8 years old 11-11:20am

9-10 years old 11:30-11:50am

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UPCOMING EVENTS

April 2017

April 5-7—Lifetouch Portraits. The

schedule is as follows:

April 5—Bunnies, Fawns, Eaglets,

Chipmunks, Moose

April 6—Woodchucks, Raccoons, Bear

Cubs

April 7—Otters, Beavers

April 8, 5:30 PM-8:30 PM—KidzLodge

Parents Night Out

April 13—P.E. for Kids

Our next 7 week session begins. Watch

for the enrollment announcement.

April 14—Art Class

Our next 5 week session begins. Watch

for the enrollment announcement.

April 14-21—Shen closed for Spring

recess. KidzLodge will be open.

April 22, 5:30 PM-8:30 PM—KidzLodge

Parents Night Out

April 24—Spanish Classes begin for our

2-3 and 4-5 year-olds

April 25—French Classes begin for our

3-5 year-olds

May 2017

May 6, 5:30 PM-8:30 PM—KidzLodge

Parents Night Out

May 20, 5:30 PM-8:30 PM—KidzLodge

Parents Night Out

May 29—Memorial Day—KidzLodge will

be closed

June 2017

June 23, 4:00 PM—Pre-K Graduation

Kidzlodge Early Learning Center

KIDZLODGE CHILDREN’S ANNUAL CAMPAIGN COLLECTION

Over the past couple of weeks, KidzLodge children collected change

for the Annual Campaign by completing chores around the house,

returning bottles, and searching for change in their homes. Together

we raised $309.75! Thank you to all KidzLodge families that allowed

us to start instilling the spirit of giving back with our students!

LET’S SEE WHAT OUR 4 YEAR OLD CHILDREN HAVE BEEN UP TO!

Bear Cubs: We celebrated Dr. Seuss’ birthday, St. Patrick's Day,

made our own creations, and learned about weather and how

plants grow. During Dr. Seuss week, we made him a new hat,

Truffula trees, learned how to rhyme and even had green eggs

and ham. During “I Can Create” week, we painted like Michelan-

gelo, made robots out of cardboard and tape, made aluminum

foil figures, and painted with watercolors. For St. Patrick's Day,

we made shaving cream marble shamrocks, learned the history

of St. Patrick's Day, and had a tricky little leprechaun in our

classroom for the week. He left us a special treat on St. Pat-

rick's Day even though we couldn't catch him in our trap. During

weather week, we made windsocks, learned about tornadoes

and hurricanes, learned how clouds form, and watched the

clouds in the sky. During plant week, we learned about the parts

of a plant, planted flowers, and learned about the different

flowers in the world.

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Aquatics Department

Lifeguarding

Course

April 17th-20th

Registration is now open for Spring II

Swim Lessons

Sign up today at the front desk for Spring II

Swim Lessons which will run May 1st– June 18th Contact Sam Mysliwiec for any

questions at 518-371-2139 x 5531

smysliwiec@cdymca.org

SPLASH INTO THE SEASON WITH AN

EASTER EGG HUNT!

Join us at the Southern Saratoga YMCA through the pool! Please be sure to bring a basket/bag to place on the pool side to col-lect your eggs. Egg hunts will be broken up

into waves. Please register for your time slot!

EASTER EGG POOL HUNT

Date: Saturday, April 15th Time: 10:00am-12:00pm

Place: Southern Saratoga YMCA

Wave 1– 10:00am

Wave 2– 10:20am

Wave 3– 10:40am

Wave 4– 11:00am

Wave 5– 11:20am

Wave 6– 11:40am

Barracudas The Barracudas placed 3rd at NCL Championships this year after coming in 6th last year! We also finished up strong at our State Championships with a 13th place finish out of the 39 teams from across the state (16th last year)! Some High Points:

2 New Team Records: Shannon Waryncia (100 Fly 1:00.71); Amanda Macey (100 Back 1:01.32)

Barracudas Girls Placed 7th Overall in NYS

8&Under Girls placed 6th in NYS

8&Under Boys placed 5th in NYS

13-14 Girls placed 3rd in NYS We also had our Senior (Lauren Earley) sign her letter of intent for Alfred State to swim next year. Congrats Lauren!