This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Palisades-Malibu YMCA and to celebrate, the Y is seeking 500 stories from Palisadians by March 12.
The Y opened in 1965 and has been bringing the community together ever since.
“In 1965, local volunteers opened the Palisades-Malibu YMCA to strengthen our community. They knew our town would benefit from healthy activities that promote strong values for families, teens and senior citizens. Since then, generations of Palisadians have participated. Today, the Y is strengthening our community through youth development, healthy living and social responsibility,” said Carol Pfannkuche, executive director.
Photo courtesy of YMCA
Dr. Mike Martini was one of the founding board members of the YMCA and said it all began with a youth house he started 53 years ago.
“We had a drive, collected $100,000 and bought the Y building on Via de la Paz,” Martini told the Palisadian-Post. “Then the second year we couldn’t raise enough money to continue to meet expenses so we joined up with the Westside Y in West L.A.”
Martini has been on the board for 50 years. His 5-year-old great grandson Jordan J. Ward is currently on the Y’s basketball team.
Everett Maguire has been on the Y’s board for 26 years and was chairman of the board from 1987-1990. His daughter Connie Maguire also served as executive director of the Y.
“The Y had an option to buy three acres that started 140 feet from Sunset,” Maguire said. “During my term as chairman, I made it my goal to add to the three acres the front acre so they’d have all that frontage on Sunset Boulevard. I was able to accomplish that without an increase in price,” Maguire told the Post.
Maguire moved to the Palisades in 1963 and joined the Y where his son participated in the organization’s Indian Guides (now called Adventure Guides) youth program.
Maguire also coached girls’ flag football, a team his daughter played on in 1972 and 1973. All three of his children went through the Y’s programs.
In honor of the Y’s 50th anniversary, Pfannkuche is calling on Palisadians to submit a total of 500 stories to the Y’s history book by March 12.
Send submissions in writing at ymcala.org/pm or on the Y’s Facebook page (Facebook.com/PalisadesMalibuYMCA).
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