‘A devoted and generous community’

The YMCA of the Northwoods marked another step in its evolution Tuesday with a ceremony celebrating the opening of the facility’s new sports complex.

The complex includes a 12,000 square foot gymnasium with three pickleball courts and a walking track, a 2,000 square foot aerobics studio and a permanent, dedicated space for gymnastics apparatus.

In a brief ceremony held inside the gymnasium, current executive director Linda May praised her predecessor, Ryan Zietlow, for his vision and dedication in shepherding the capital campaign that funded the project.

These undated submitted photos display the recently completed gymnasium and aerobics studio expansion at the YMCA of the Northwoods in Rhinelander.
(Submitted photos)

“When he arrived in 2017 he did a community assessment and we knew we needed more gathering places to bring the community together to laugh, to smile, to find their health,” she said.

Zietlow was also integral in securing the participation of Dr. Judy Pagano-Thoms to serve as chairperson for the capital campaign, May added.

Pagano-Thoms and her husband, Bob Thoms, made a lead gift of $50,000 to kick off the campaign and the retired obstetrician/gynecologist devoted considerable time to lobbying friends, neighbors and community members to join the cause.

According to Steve Agnoli, chief volunteer officer at the Y, 206 donors contributed a total of $2.7 million to the Build the Future campaign.

In her remarks, Pagano-Thoms recounted the fateful phone conversation with Zietlow that ended with her agreeing to serve as chairperson and the subsequent learning curve she experienced.

“In the fall of ‘19 we officially started our capital campaign and what did I know about capital campaigns? Nothing,” she said. “I can deliver a baby but a capital campaign... but Ryan was a good teacher and we started talking to people one at a time, one family at time...”

In 2020, the YMCA received an unexpected blessing when the former South Park School building was purchased and donated to the Y for use as a childcare center.

The building was renovated and now serves 120 children, Pagano-Thoms noted.

The campaign continued through the COVID-19 pandemic and then “an angel came along and Gale Willcox donated $1 million,” she added.

Pagano-Thoms also noted that the Y’s capital campaign was underway at the same time as the Hodag Dome funding campaign and the Rhinelander Community Foundation’s work in raising money for community improvements.

“All three of these rather large campaigns were going on at the same time and, guess what, we all made it,” Pagano-Thoms noted.

School District of Rhinelander superintendent Eric Burke and activities director Brian Paulson discussed the impact of the new dedicated space for gymnastics.

Paulson recounted the struggles the gymnastics program has had in recent years in terms of training space and noted that a dedicated space will provide a huge boost for the youth program. 

“This is the start right here for the youth to have the ability to work alongside with all of our high school kids,” he said, noting that the gymnastics program will now have the opportunity to emulate the Rhinelander youth swim program which has fed a thriving high school team that is competing for, and winning, state titles.

In her closing remarks, May noted that she was “late to this party,” having taken the baton in May after Zietlow left to take a position with the Stevens Point YMCA, but is “overjoyed to have been part of this project.”

“This community is like none other that I have ever been involved with,” she said. “It’s about engaging, caring, uplifting people. It’s a devoted and generous community and it’s a place where everyone is seen and recognized.”

Heather Schaefer may be reached at [email protected].