From swim lessons and summer camps to lifelong leadership, the Y’s 175-year impact was recognized and celebrated at the Vermont State Legislature for the milestone anniversary.
The YMCA turns 175 this year—and if you ask Barbara Rachelson of Burlington, we don’t “look a day over 75.”
One of the highlights of our 175th anniversary celebration was an invitation to the Vermont Statehouse for the reading of a Concurrent House Resolution in our honor (watch the video here). In it, the General Assembly congratulated the Y on 175 years of service and extended “best wishes for the organization’s future endeavors.” It was a formal and meaningful moment recognizing the Y’s lasting impact on communities across Vermont, including the Meeting Waters YMCA in Bellows Falls and the Greater Burlington YMCA.
Representative Rachelson shared her own Y memories—camping out overnight to be first in line for childcare registration when her children were young, swim lessons that built confidence in the water, summer camp adventures, and a son who stepped into leadership as a teenager.
Representative Doug Bishop of Colchester reflected on a former coworker’s advice: apply your core values to every decision, and the decisions become easier. He credited the Y not only as a meaningful place to work for nine years, but as the source of lifelong friendships.
The celebration wasn’t limited to the House floor. The balcony was filled with Y staff, volunteers, and donors who gathered to witness the occasion. At Representative Bishop’s prompting, the Speaker of the House offered a warm welcome, followed by applause from Representatives and staff—a powerful show of appreciation inside the People’s House.
And there were a few surprises in the 175th anniversary celebration Resolution itself. Did you know the Y invented basketball? Hosted the first night school and English as a Second Language (ESL) classes? Or that the YMCA movement received a Nobel Peace Prize? (It did!) The Y is also credited as the birthplace of Father’s Day.
Of course, what many Vermonters know us for are the everyday essentials: afterschool programs, childcare, summer camps, and swim lessons that help keep kids safe around water. Fun fact—those swim lessons? The Y pioneered those, too.
This year, we celebrate the YMCA’s founding in 1851, the Greater Burlington YMCA’s beginning in 1866, and Meeting Waters’ establishment in 1895. For 175 years and counting, the Y has evolved to meet society’s changing needs—strengthening communities and building healthy spirit, mind, and body for all.
Here’s to the next 175.