By Cara Spilsbury
Haverhill Gazette
March 20, 2008

Five years ago, when Raymond Pelletier retired from a 32-year career with the YMCA, his retirement bash drew more than 250 people for one of the best parties of his life. But retirement proved boring for Pelletier, so the former YMCA executive director is back, this time in community development.

The position was created especially for Pelletier, whose goal is to use his years of developing contacts in the community to bring in more dollars for programs, specifically to improve the summer camp at Tricklin' Falls. The camp was purchased while he was executive director and the plan is to make it a three-season getaway with more scholarships for children to attend.

Pelletier said the Y gives away more than $25,000 in scholarships to its summer camp each year, but they want to increase that to $35,000. "We need to get businesses more involved so more kids can go to camp," he said.

Attending the Y summer camp is a treat for many children who don't get a chance to go canoeing, kayaking, swimming or rock climbing.

"It's an experience a lot of the children have never had," Pelletier said. Children also get to meet others the same age from neighborhoods and schools different from their own. Often the chance encounters turn into lifelong friendships — something Pelletier knows about first-hand. He still e-mails and stays in contact with the friends he met at the YMCA summer camp he attended as a child in Andover.

Another of Pelletier's goals is to bring new faces onto the board of directors, especially those who may be new to the Y. Since their $7.5 million renovation in 2005 and 2006, membership has tripled to more than 4,000 members, Pelletier said proudly.

The increased membership prompted the number of programs to grow as well. As a result, the staff, which is busy tweaking the Y's offerings, doesn't have time to raise money, so Pelletier will step in to help with that.

Pelletier fell in love with the Y after graduating from Springfield College. His passion for gymnastics made him want to be a coach and a physical education teacher in a school, but those jobs were hard to come by. Once he met regional staff at the Y, he quickly realized it was the place for him. The enthusiasm of the children was unmatched by anything he had seen in public schools.

"The big difference was that these kids wanted to be there: They didn't have to be there," Pelletier said.

Pelletier moved up in the YMCA ranks at facilities all across the state including Fitchburg, Framingham, Cambridge and then Haverhill. He first came to the Y in Haverhill in 1985. He is proud the Y is still a place for families to enjoy together, and a place for community members to find affordable housing. There is a whole crop of younger Y members Pelletier has yet to meet, and the Y is a busier place, but a lot of familiar faces have welcomed him back after his five-year hiatus, namely the early morning group, the noon-time exercisers and the early evening, after-work crowd.

"Even in the first few days I was back, I had a number of people come in reminiscing," he said.

Pelletier is thrilled with the direction of the Haverhill YMCA and happy to be a part of it again. "One of the main reasons I came back was that I had all this experience and knowledge. Instead of having my brain go to mush, I thought I'd put it to good use," he said with a chuckle. "It's nice to be back home."

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