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Kids celebrate staying healthy at Boardman Y
BOARDMAN
For Gavin Fernandez, 8, “Take on Summer” was not just a catchy slogan on a T-shirt.
Oh, it was written on every bright green T-shirt worn by Davis Family YMCA staff Saturday afternoon.
But Gavin, perched on the seat of a universal weight machine and working diligently on his pectoral muscles, was taking it to heart.
The Boardman boy had already done 20 reps at 30 pounds. Summer won’t get the best of him by turning him into some video-game playing, TV-watching couch potato.
With him was his friend and assistant, DJ Segool, 14, also of Boardman.
They were taking the Healthy Kids Day challenge, which included strength and cardio training on the machines in the Y’s Youth Fitness Center.
Healthy Kids Day, the Y’s annual community open house, is designed to to promote healthy lifestyles that fight childhood obesity, explained Adele Taylor, the pre-school family director. It also is designed to get kids interested in activities they can do over the summer.
For Segool, the day was the only opportunity he’s had so far to try kayaking, which was set up in the Y’s lap pool.
“It was fun. Trying to turn it was hard,” he said, adding that yes, he’d do it again.
He also tried his hand at archery, set up by Camp Fitch on a lawn outside the building. There was also a camp fire out there where kids made s’mores, which aren’t really healthy, Taylor conceded.
“But you run it off doing all the activities,” she said.
There really was something for everyone of every age at the open house, which the Y intends as an event for families, not just kids.
Little ones splashed in the recreational pool or pushed scooters around the gym — anything to get them moving, Taylor said.
Their parents were offered a chance to test-drive a new Dodge — Dodge is the national sponsor of Healthy Kids Day at YMCAs throughout the country.
Locally, Yerian Insurance sponsored the event, which also included a bounce-around, book fair, nutrition presentations and healthy snacks.
Vendors included the Girl Scouts; the Mahoning Valley Scrappers; Shaklee health products; Walgreen’s; Rita’s, which handed out water ice, and Grow Youngstown, which promoted its community-supported agriculture programs.
Grow Youngstown connects local farmers with consumers, said Lisa Lotze, its board president. The organization is hoping to use the Y as a pick-up point for people who buy its shares of produce.
The Davis YMCA includes members from throughout the Youngstown area.
Pam Wilson, who teaches swimming classes there that include her 1-year-old daughter, Carissa Joy, said the Y becomes an important part of families’ lives.
She said her family, including husband, David, and five more children, are all regulars.
“I love it when I see families here together,” she said.