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Dear Editor:  

The Selma Dallas County YMCA (Young Men’s Christian Association) is  historical and has been an integral part of our city, area, and state since 1858 when the building downtown became the very first “Y” building in Alabama.  Many in our city and south central Alabama have been impacted by our YMCA:  youth sports, swim lessons, summer camp, exercise, weight training, homeschool group, water aerobics and lap swimming to name a few.  

In 1953, we lived behind the Grist YMCA at the end of Furnace Avenue on Washington St..  I was 6 and my forward thinking Mother enrolled me in swim lessons under Pat Knight at the Y.  Was she a swimmer?  NO.  She was raised in north Alabama in a poor family and had picked cotton and worked in sewing factories to make ends meet, her dad having died when, she, one of 8 children, was 11.  Well, those swimming lessons changed my life!  I am still a swimmer today and it has proved very beneficial.  I will always have a deep gratitude for my Mother’s action, Pat Knight, the YMCA, and Louie McMillan who polished up my strokes when he was my instructor at the Municipal Pool here in Selma in the early ’60s. You may wonder where I am going with this.  Please bear with me…

This year I am 77.  Returning to my hometown of Selma in 2001, we swam at the Grist Y.  When the latest facility opened in 2006 or 2007, funded by many generous and forward thinking people in our area, we were charter members and have been swimming there year round since.  We have been so appreciative of having the nice indoor pools.  Today, my husband—who learned to swim at the YMCA in Nashville in the mid 60s, and I are driving to Montgomery to swim at the East Y pool as the Lap Pool at our Y is closed indefinitely.  This is the second time in the last 5 years we have joined the Montgomery Y in order to swim laps due to the local pools being down. We understand it is an expensive undertaking to run an indoor pool.  We know that the current building, thus the pools, is gaining some age and needing repairs and ongoing maintenance in order to be functional.  

On Monday, around 20 members of water aerobics classes at our Y, lap swimmers, and life guards met with YMCA leaders Mrs. Rashida Morgan and Mr. Austin Williams as well as Chief Visionary Officer of the board, Mr. Kenyatta Rucker.  It was hard being told they did not know how long our only functioning pool would be down.  The water loving people wanted to know what we could do to help and work together with the leaders to get our pool back up again.  The pool outage has been a problem off and on for the past 3 years at least.  In the pool area, the HVAC system has been down for several years.  Maintenance folk have shown that this has contributed to rust and other deposits on electrical, pumps, walls.  So, the HVAC system needs repairing or replacing.  The two pools originally were called the Exercise Pool and Lap Pool.  The exercise pool, I believe in the beginning, was kept a bit warmer than the lap pool.  It has more and wider steps and a handrail on the steps so it is easier to get in and out. The Exercise pool has been down for several years.  This puts the water aerobics classes over in the Lap pool.  Of course they want it to be warmer and the lap swimmers do not need it warmer.  This year during the summer camp, looked forward to by many children in the area, there was no pool time for the children attending.  This year there were no swim lessons taught at the YMCA here.  Our pool, when it is functional, is only open 0600-12noon.  

Selma, Dallas County, leaders in the area, we water people at the YMCA are appealing to you to help us get the aquatics area at the YMCA repaired.  Not only do we want it and need it for our health, but there are many children of both races in our area who need to be able to swim.  Ours is the only indoor pool within 45 miles.  If our facility’s pool was functional with longer hours during the school year, forward thinking Mothers would have a place to bring their children for lessons.  There have been teachers wanting to teach swim lessons. If you look up “statistics on child drowning” on Google, you will find that drowning death rates are higher for Black and American Indian/Alaskan Native children and adolescents.  It would be so wonderful to have a welcoming pool where forward thinking Mothers in our area could get swim lessons for their young children.  Selma and surrounding area, let’s work together toward that goal.  Google goes on to say “Basic swimming and water safety skills training is an effective drowning prevention strategy.”  We water people from our local Y say, “Please help us with ideas and finding funds.

Yesterday prior to the meeting, I was reading in 100 Days of Believing Bigger by Marshawn Evans Daniels. Some words reminded me of our current YMCA’s history…in speaking of the battle between David and Goliath, she said, “The battle was about something larger than both of them….Know that God doesn’t bless a mess.  He doesn’t bless messy objectives…He doesn’t bless your need, nor someone else’s need, to be right and prove someone wrong.  The battle isn’t about the battle; it’s about something bigger….Don’t let something that seems big cause you to forget who you are, whose you are, and the spiritual DNA you possess…..No one is immune from trouble….also remember that God has already overcome every obstacle we could face…..Things aren’t always as they seem.”  The scripture given was John 7:24, NIV, “Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.”  

Believing with all my heart that we can conquer differences and misunderstandings if we seek God’s wisdom.  He will help us if we seek the wisdom that comes from heaven.  James 3:13-18.  We are seeking, Father.  Direct our paths.  

Today at the East YMCA in Montgomery, I met a swimmer just coming from the pool whose name was Ruby.  She was 94 years old!  I said that is awesome and she said, just keep swimming….my comment was, “I am trying…”  Blessings of our Lord on Ruby and on the YMCAs everywhere.       

Gail Box Ingram