The Project
Project Status
BOARD HOLDS PLANNING RETREAT
Recently, members of the San Ramon Valley YMCA Board of Advisors spent a day in a planning session for the upcoming year. One of the objectives of the retreat was to develop strategies for finishing up the capital campaign so that construction can begin next spring on the full-service YMCA facility to be built on 12 acres on the Danville/Alamo border. The retreat was held at Chevron’s world-wide headquarters in San Ramon. Chevron has been a long-time partner of the YMCA in building strong kids, strong families and strong communities.
Front row (left to right):
Bob Nealis, Jill Purcell, Sherrie Littlejohn, Joe Combs, Maryann Cella, Arquelle Shaw, Stuart Poon, Margie Hart, Kathy Chiverton
Back row:
Terry Koehne, Rob Silverman, Eric Leffler, Savanna Cheer, Steve Wilcox, Bill Oldenburg, Tony Geisler, Dave Chadbourne, Bob Fletcher, and Preston Canzius
Not pictured: Joe Buenavista, Mark Checchi, Elaine Cortez Schroth, Mark Curtis
Work Begins on Lewis Lane Bridge
September, 2008 - Work began this week on the long-awaited Lewis Lane Bridge. A temporary span was laid across San Ramon Creek that allowed some of the construction equipment access to the YMCA property.
If you are interested in getting a closer view of the project and its progress, call the San Ramon Valley YMCA at 925.831.1100 for a tour of the property.
Bridge Contract Signed
The San Ramon Valley YMCA is happy to announce that the plans to build a YMCA in the San Ramon Valley took a big step forward this month. A contract was signed with R.L. Harris Company to construct the bridge that will connect Lewis Lane in Alamo to the YMCA property over the San Ramon Creek. A webcam will be installed at the project site, so that viewers can follow the progress of the project at www.srvymca.org.
Work on the bridge is expected to be done this fall with completion targeted by the end of the year. If additional capital funds are raised, the YMCA will be able to begin grading the site in the spring. The hope is that enough funds are contributed to begin the construction of the facility next summer. Please visit this website for regular updates.
(People in the picture:
Mike Erwin, CEO of Mt. Diablo Region YMCA.; Barbara Jewell, of Gagen, McCoy; Kathy Chiverton, San Ramon Valley YMCA; Randy Nahas, San Ramon Valley YMCA volunteer; Dave Harris, R.M. Harris Co.; Dave Brugers, Engeo and Vince D’Alo, Aliquot)
New Website Launched!
The San Ramon Valley YMCA and Core·Continuum are proud to announce the launch of a new website, www.srvymca.org. The design and construction of the website were generously donated by Core·Continuum (www.coredotcontinuum.com), a San Francisco-based web application services firm founded by Subbu Balakrishnan and Demo Villanueva. Mr. Villanueva is a Danville resident whose children have been involved in YMCA programs for several years. Demo volunteers as a basketball coach for the Y’s popular winter basketball program.
Demo notes, “YMCA programs are such an important part of the lives of our children that when the opportunity presented itself, it was a very easy decision to invest our time and expertise in being part of this special cause. The website represents perfect alignment with our core values as a business, and as members of the community. We are privileged to be a part of the San Ramon Valley YMCA’s ecosystem, and we look forward to continuing our collaboration.”
The website features information about the new 28,000 square- foot YMCA facility planned to be built on the Danville/Alamo border. Through the website, the community will be able to monitor the progress of the capital campaign. Once construction has begun, regular updates will be posted on the website so that people can follow the course of the building process.
Demo and his partner Subbu spent hours with YMCA staff and volunteers and their own design team to put together a website that is easy to navigate and makes the capital campaign contribution process very simple.
“Many people don’t know of what immense benefit the new Y will be to the community; we are very grateful to Core·Continuum for assisting us in getting the word out. We hope that this website will help people better understand the project and help us finish up the capital campaign. We are almost 75% to our goal of raising $4.1 million. If every family or senior who will use the new Y donated $200, we would be able to start building next spring,” observed Marilyn Gardner, who, with husband Paul, chairs the capital campaign committee.
For more information about the San Ramon Valley YMCA, its programs and the capital campaign, please call Executive Director, Kathy Chiverton at 925.831.1100 or go to www.srvymca.org!
Extending Summer - Simple Ways to Keep the Summer Spirit Alive and Well!
Summer can be as much a state of mind as a season. Don't let the last days of August put a halt to your festivities. Try these simple ways to keep that carefree spirit alive and well:
- enjoy the outdoors as long as possible
- freeze corn and other fresh vegetables to use well into the fall
- make camping plans—even if they're for the back yard, porch or living room
- keep the fruit coming
- put chores off for another day and head to the beach or mini-golf course, or go for a walk or bike ride
- have one more picnic—indoors will do as long as you have a blanket and potato salad
- treat yourself to another thriller, romance or other favorite summer reading
- three words: ice cream cones
- let the kids stay up a little later one more night or two (please!)
- start a garden
- keep the grill at the ready
- hit the local indoor swimming pool (coming soon!)
- make s’mores on the grill, in the fireplace or under the broiler
- plan a special weekend outing for September
Tree Clearing Begins for New YMCA Site
Over the spring, the San Ramon Valley YMCA (serving Walnut Creek, Alamo, Danville, and San Ramon) began tree clearing for the long-awaited start of construction for the new full-service YMCA facility that will serve the San Ramon Valley for generations to come. Replacement trees will be planted on the 12 acres that will be the site of the future YMCA. A 40-foot coast live oak was transplanted to the backyard of one of the Y's neighbors in Alamo. The homeowner paid for the work and his children are now enjoying the shade of a beautiful oak tree.
