OTTAWA — Retired state lawmaker and former volunteer Putnam County YMCA director Lynn Wachtmann always held a special spot in his heart for the Y.
He saw Y programs such as swim lessons as a way to teach youth to swim and more importantly not drown in the family pond. So when the board of the YMCA told him several years ago about financial struggles hurting the YMCA he went to work to secure a grant.
“We were in terrible debt and he headed up a debt reduction campaign in 2012. He was instrumental in us getting a grant from the state of Ohio for $1 million,” said Lori Fetherolf, the executive director for the YMCA of Putnam County.
On Tuesday, local community leaders, YMCA staff and board members honored Wachtmann with a rock with his name on it next to the outside track at the YMCA that will always remind people of the help he provided, Fetherolf said.
The debt is part of a 30-year loan to pay for the cost of building the new YMCA 11 years ago. In 2012, the debt was at $2 million. Today it’s a much more manageable $750,000, Fetherolf said.
Having a lower mortgage on the building means the Y can accomplish more programs such as swim lessons for second-graders in the county, a program that is free and served 626 children at nine of the 11 elementary schools in the county, she said.
Wachtmann, who served as the volunteer executive director before Fetherolf became the executive director, remembered the second-grade swim lessons.
“I will never forget the very first class that came in. So many of those youngsters were scared to death. Many had never been in water or around water very much. I was then here the day they were here one or two weeks later and every youngster was beaming from ear to ear,” he said.
Wachtmann said he was honored to help the YMCA get funding but more importantly help the community and a program that is near and dear to his heart.
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