The North Suburban YMCA marked 50 years with an anniversary event Aug. 25 that celebrated the community partnerships that helped found the organization and those that keep it running to this day.
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Hundreds attended an afternoon and evening of food, games and live music at the Techny Road facility.
Alta Thiel recalled the initiative that she and husband Kenneth Thiel undertook in 1960. Kenneth Thiel established an office in the basement of the couple’s home and began organizing YMCA activities in Northbrook. Both were physical education instructors in the Northbrook school system at the time.
A mobilization of individuals, businessmen, the Deerfield-Northbrook Rotary and civic groups helped pave the way for a new YMCA in Northbrook. Land was donated in April 1963 by Convenant Church of America for the location that now serves 15 suburbs.
According to the North Suburban YMCA website, fundraising for the present facility began in 1966 and the Techny Road facility was completed in late 1968, with activities beginning in early 1969.
Alta Thiel said the impetus for a Y location in Northbrook sprang from parents who’d grown up in the Chicago and Evanston YMCAs but had moved their young families further north.
“We liked Evanston,” she said, “but many of us couldn’t afford to live there and so we built in Northbrook. We wanted our children to have the opportunity of a YMCA experience, with Indian Guides, Indian Princesses and different clubs. There were a lot of people in the Evanston area who wanted to live (in Northbrook).”
Alta Thiel’s daughter, Debbie Thiel Larson, and her husband were also at the event Saturday. Larson recalled fondly the Y’s swim team and summer adventure club trips to ballgames, museums and the old Riverview amusement park.
Since its launch in 2007, the annual Ken & Alta Thiel Strong Kids Dinner has raised over $2.5 million.
YMCA CEO Howard Schultz said one out of five members takes part in Y activities made possible by financial assistance.
Schultz said partnerships built the YMCA in Northbrook and continue to be vital, with “over 60 different nonprofits” involved in the effort.
Schultz said with the Y’s wellness, aquatic, special needs and dance programs, free use of meeting space and fast-growing adult membership, “the YMCA has become the center of the community.”
“We have 8,500 members, but 13,000 participants come through every year,” Schultz said.
