Ti, Silver Bay YMCA to reopen teen center in 2022

TICONDEROGA | The Silver Bay YMCA and the Town of Ticonderoga jointly announced that the Ticonderoga teen center, which closed at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, will reopen in the first quarter of 2022. The center, which offers programs and activities to older kids, is important to parents who have nowhere else for their children to go after school. The center primarily closed over Covid and, early in the pandemic, no clear direction from the state as to how such a facility might safely stay open, or if it even could. But the town and Silver Bay also grappled over financing and a direction for the program, issues that have been settled moving forward. "The decision was an easy one to make. We heard loud and clear from the community that our teen center was missed and numerous studies indicate that children have suffered from isolation throughout this pandemic," said Steve Tamm, CEO of the Silver Bay YMCA Conference and Family Retreat Center in a statement. "Our discussions with Councilman Mark Russell, chair of the Ticonderoga Youth Commission, have been so very positive since we started our reopening discussions back in late 2020." The teen center will be held in the Ticonderoga Armory, as it was before, but it will take some time to ramp up operations. "There are a number of things we need to do before we restart the teen center and that will take some time," said Jackie Palandrani, Youth and Teen Director at Silver Bay YMCA. "Furniture and equipment needs to be moved back in, staff needs to be hired and trained, plus a number of other things need to happen to ensure that we open properly with the safety of the teens, volunteers and staff at the forefront." The town is also in the process of revamping its recreational programs overall under a new full-time director. "We are very pleased to be partnering once again with Silver Bay YMCA," said Councilman Mark Russell, chair of the Ticonderoga Youth Commission. "Silver Bay YMCA is clearly dedicated to impacting the teens of Ticonderoga. We are very thankful to them and their donors who have invested countless hours and over $1 million in this program since 2012. They exemplify dedication to the local communities of the North Country." The town's new recreation director will have oversight of all youth programs in the town, Russell said, including the lead role in overall operations at the armory including support of the senior center, teen center, after-school program, as well as the youth sports such as buddy basketball. "The director will work with Silver Bay on programming to collaborate town as well as external resources in providing diverse and robust options for the youth and community," Russell said. Silver Bay YMCA was founded in 1902 and is located in Silver Bay, just minutes south of Hague. Its 700-acre campus along one mile of Lake George shoreline offers a wide breadth of programs for all ages. Silver Bay YMCA presently employs 45 full-time staff members with a seasonal staff of 200. Silver Bay YMCA is consistently ranked one of the top ten family reunion sites in the country and is on the National Register of Historic Places with the U.S. Department of the Interior.

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Ti, Silver Bay YMCA to reopen teen center in 2022

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