Czochara Serves God, Families in YMCA Career

Julie Czochara has lived in major cities on both sides of the United States, and now she’s living in the middle of the country in a small rural town tackling the challenge of beginning programs and operations at the new YMCA at Gothenburg Health. She started her YMCA career six years...

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Eustis Friends Find Second Home at YMCA

Five days a week, Sherry Timm and Marcia Keller meet up on a corner in Eustis and drive 25 minutes together to exercise at the Orthman Community YMCA. The two self-described Y “gym rats” have discovered their second home at the Y, which they have found to be more than just a nice place...

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Leiningers Live Healthy In Golden Years

Becoming a Golden Member at the Orthman Community YMCA came just in time for Mitze Leininger of Lexington. Mitze celebrated her 80th birthday December 17, just as she was finishing her stay at Brookdale assisted living to recuperate from back surgery. Her doctor told her to walk a mile...

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YMCA Helps Ide Enjoy Retirement

After retiring from his long-time position as a county judge in 2015, Bob Ide wanted to enjoy his new freedom playing football with his young grandchildren and hunting and fishing. “I’d like to go to Alaska and fish halibut or salmon,” he said. “I like to go out and shoot a bull...

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Brown Survives Heart Scare

On May 29, 3013, Jim Brown felt a stabbing pain in his chest. “I woke up in the middle of the night, and I thought I had heart burn,” he said. He made a doctor’s appointment a few days later. His EKG heart test checked out normal, but he failed a stress test and was referred to a...

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Age No Barrier for Lexington Runners

As Marty Smith approaches her 68th birthday this summer, she’s not looking for a rocking chair. Instead, she’s planning to roll in the mud and crawl through culverts in the Dawson County “Cowpoke” Mud Run and continue her morning group exercise classes with the twenty and...

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White Builds Community

When Micki White started working at the Don Sjogren Community YMCA a year ago, it was just going to be for a few hours a week. That part-time job turned into a full-time job this past month as she accepted more duties supervising the front desk staff and teaching many new Y classes...

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