Charlottetown YMCA 1856-1996

I came across a sheet of facts about the history of the Charlottetown YMCA which gave a quick snapshot of the operation in the 1980’s and I thought it might be of interest to others. It appears to have been part of a trivia contest:

CHARLOTTETOWN Y.M.C.A. TRIVIA CONTEST HISTORY & FACTS SHEET !!!

Who's Who at the Y.M.C.A.

Dave Mills President
Joan Cameron Secretary
Valerie Johnston Vice-President Loran MacLellan Treasurer
David Campbell Unit Manager, Membership & Aquatics
Louis Gannon Chief Executive Officer Patty Dexter Unit Manager, Youth & Physical Education
Elizabeth Jeffrey Child Care Director
Shelley Baker Administration Director Terry Posylek Special Events Director Anna Yeo Pryme Tyme & Day Camp Director
Tim Hennessey Manager, Bowling Lanes
Paul McGuire Physical Education Director Dana Barron Health & Lifestyles Director Doug Ramsay Maintenance Supervisor Liz Hennessey Office Support Staff

History, Facts, Dates

1856 - Charlottetown YMCA founded, Captain John Orlebar first President 1859 - YMCA hired first paid staff
1893 - First ladies auxillary formed

1870 - Programs expand to the point that a larger facility was required

1871 - July 31st cornerstone for first YMCA building was laid 1873 - August 18th larger facility was opened 1886 - Gym activities for men began
1903 - First Boy's Work Secretary hired
1899 - A.W. Robb arrives as the first trained Secretary 1901 - Ladies gym classes began 1902 - Adult education classes (math, english, accounting, etc.) began
1911 - First mention of a need for a better facility, W.W. I interrupts plans
1906 - April Fund Drive, 50th Anniversary, Building free of debt 1910 - 2 bowling lanes added, YMCA helped organize Boy Scout movement on PEI 1917 - YMCA Secretaries given the honorary rank of Captain as were Chaplains
1937 - March 18-24 Y's Men met to organize Summerside Y's Men
1923 - Despite a $3,000 bank overdraft 2 additional bowling lanes were added 1925 - H-Y Grads began 1926 - Y's Men's Club formed with 34 members, later called Alpha Y's Men Canoe Cove Summer Camp for boys established
1941 - Property on the corner of Prince and Euston Street purchased
1938 - YMCA Camp Committee asked Y's Men to take over the operation of the Camp 1939 - Public meeting to plan new facilities - plans interrupted by W.W. II 1940 - Charlottetown YMCA oldest building in continuous Y operation in North America 1948 - Richmond St. building sold to PEI Government (present day Basilica Recreation Center)
1943 - New building campaign over subscribed, but increased cost developed 1944 - Holland Cove purchased by Y's Men for new camp property 1945 - Abandoned Richmond St building for temporary headquarters in the Rogers residence 1947 - May construction began 1949 - New building opened, no swimming pool
1962 - YMCA becomes member of newly formed PEI United Fund
1953 - Campaign raises $13,000 to apply towards mortgage 1956 - Board discusses clearing debt and building a pool 1958 - John Evans hired as General Secretary 1960 - Pool construction began 1961 - September building refurbished and pool opened for public use - first indoor pool in Charlottetown 1963 - 1,812 children received swim instruction
1977 - Government incentive program aids 200 volunteers to undertake Health Club campaign
1964 - Bluefins Swim Club formed 1965 - City of Charlottetown taxed the YMCA for the first time 1967 - Grant by City Council offsets taxes 1969 - 1,500 people in walk-a-thon raise $13,000, public burning of mortgage 1975 - 11,702 volunteer hours of service received from 596 citizens 1978 - October 17th Health Club facilities officially opened
1988 - Terry Moore accepts position with Saint John, N.B. YM/YWCA as CEO Louis Gannon hired as new CEO
1983 - Playschool and Kindergarten program began 1985 - Charlottetown YMCA hosts Atlantic Area YMCA Conference 1986 - John Evans retires, pool renamed in his honour Terry Moore hired as new CEO 1987 - March marks the start of Pryme Tyme after school child care program Joe Lawrence named Canadian President of Y's Men.
1989 - Charlottetown YMCA has served the community for 133 years, 40 at present site YMCA serves 2,000 present day members YMCA - Young Men's Christian Association
--------------------------------------------- Below is a brief history published by Archives PEI, the Prince Edward Island Archival Information Network with photos added.

The Charlottetown chapter of the Young Mens Christian Association (YMCA) was organized in 1856 with Capt. John Orlebar drafting the Constitution. The early program, conducted in the rented premises of Temperance Hall, consisted of literary and religious activities for young adult men. In 1870, due to expansive programming, it was decided to build a facility which would meet the needs of the organization. Located on Richmond Street, the “Y” building opened in 1873.

YMCA location on Richmond St to the right of the Free Church of Scotland.
Charlottetown, PEI.

By World War I the Charlottetown “Y” was positioning itself as a community centre and continuing to add to its facilities. In addition to providing recreational opportunities, the YMCA offered public services such as adult education classes (which began in 1902), child care, summer camp programs at their Holland Cove camp, and after school programs. Assistance was also provided to other organizations; they were, for instance, instrumental in organizing the local Boy Scout movement in 1910.

In 1886 the YMCA began offering gym activities for men. Women became involved with the organization in 1893 with the formation of the Women’s Auxiliary and ladies gym classes commenced in 1901.
Despite its growth the YMCA experienced intermittent financial difficulties which necessitated fundraising campaigns to pay off debts incurred by the expansion of facilities and programs. A new building was built on the corner of Prince and Euston Streets in the 1940's.

252 Prince St. Charlottetown - Photo by Natalie Munn,

It was expanded in 1960 with the addition of a swimming pool. In the 1980's the organization began to reorganize once more and it was decided to develop a fitness centre which would appeal to an adult clientele. Attempts to redefine itself in the community could not overcome a problematic debt load. The YMCA closed its doors in May of 1996.
http://www.archives.pe.ca/atom/index.php/ymca-charlottetown-p-e-i-chapter Retrieved – June 10, 2017

Additional notes by Vintage Charlottetown Facebook users:

When the YMCA closed the operation in 1996 the building was then operated as Charlottetown Recreation Centre, (CRC) and was managed by Joyce Gregory. It operated as the CRC until at least 2001.

Also see history of the YMCA building (252 Prince St.) at corner of Prince and Euston Streets. on City of Charlottetown site.

The Odyssey of Pierre Poirier by Georges Arsenault

The Odyssey of Pierre Poirier

by Georges Arsenault and posted to Facebook on Dec 13, 2016

On this Acadian Day of Remembrance (13 December 2016), I have a special thought for the thousands of Acadians who died during the Deportation years. I also think about my ancestors who managed to escape deportation, especially my ancestor Pierre Poirier who escaped two deportations, the one in 1755 and the one in 1758. His story deserves to be told.

I am Georges à Aldine Poirier/Perry à Léon à Romain à Léon à Joseph à Pierre à Pierre Poirier.

In the summer of 1755, Pierre Poirier was a young man married to Marguerite Girouard. They were expecting their first child. They lived in Tintamarre (near present-day Sackville, N.B.). Like most of the men of the region, Pierre was arrested in the month of August and taken prisoner by the British soldiers. While waiting to be deported, he was incarcerated with others at Fort Lawrence which was located near the place where the Nova Scotia Tourism Information Centre stands today, not far from Amherst.

The wives of the prisoners were allowed to bring them food. At the request of the men, one of the women brought a knife which she hid in a large loaf of bread. With the help of this knife, the men were able to dig a tunnel under the walls of the fort. During the stormy night of the 1st and 2nd of October 1755, Pierre Poirier and 85 other Acadian prisoners managed to escape through the 12 foot underground tunnel they had made!

Pierre immediately headed for home hoping to find his wife who was about eight months pregnant. He found the village of Tintamarre deserted. He met some Mi’kmaq who told him that all the women, children and elders had gone to Cocagne to escape deportation. Pierre headed for Cocagne where he found Marguerite. From there, the couple sailed to île Saint-Jean (PEI). It is not known if their baby was born in Cocagne or on the Island. It is known, however, that Marguerite gave birth on October 15 to a girl, Rosalie, who was baptized the following November 24, 1755, at Port-la-Joye.

Pierre Poirier remained on île Saint-Jean with his young family until 1758. That summer, Lord Rollo and a contigent of British soldiers arrived on the Island to deport the inhabitants to France. For a second time, Pierre managed to escape deportation. With quite a few other families, Pierre fled to a refugee camp on the Restigouche River at the head of the Bay of Chaleur.

Around 1761, the Poirier family returned to the Island and settled at Havre-Saint-Pierre (St. Peters Harbour) for several years. Pierre and a number of Acadian men were hired to fish cod for British entrepreneurs. During his stay at Havre-Saint-Pierre, Pierre also went to Trois-Rivières (Montague area) in the winter of 1768 with eight other Acadian men to cut pine trees for William Livingston, and later that same year he was employed as a labourer for 11 days by Isaac Deschamps to do public work on the Island such as clearing land for the settlement of Charlottetown. 

The Anglophones for whom Pierre worked in order to feed his family, seemed to have difficulty pronouncing his family name, Poirier. To their ears, it sounded a bit like Perry, a popular name in England. That is probably how Pierre’s family name was translated to Perry. It is written in a number of ways in the 18th century documents in English: Paurie (1765), Purrie (1768), Pery (1790), Perry (1795), Perrie (1798). Pierre Perry seems to have been the first Poirier to more or less adopt the surname Perry. For many years, only his descendants were known by that name on the Island.

From Havre-Saint-Pierre, Pierre Poirier moved his family to Malpeque Bay in the early 1770s where they settled in Lot 17 in what is now North St. Eleanors. We don’t know where and when Pierre and Marguerite Poirier died. They were still alive and living in Lot 17 when the 1798 census was taken. By 1799, the Acadians started leaving the shores of Malpeque Bay to settle elsewhere in Prince County. Their children, Pierre (la Grand’couette), Basile, Rosalie, and Marguerite figure among the pioneers of Tignish while the other members of the family, Germain and Madeleine, are listed among the founders of Mont-Carmel.

Rosalie, born in 1755, married Joseph Richard. They are the ancestors of the Richards from the Tignish region. Marguerite married Julien DesRoches and they have among their descendants many of the West Prince DesRoches. As for Madeleine, she married Firmin Gallant, nicknamed “Panneau”, and they settled in Mont-Carmel. Their descendants are found in large numbers in the Evangeline Region, among them are the families with nicknames such as Panneau, Cannon, Calumet, and Blague.

Several of Pierre and Madeleine Poirier’s descendants have made history : 1) Rev. Sylvain Éphrem Perrey (1802-1887) was the first Acadian born in the Maritimes after the Deportation to be ordained to the priesthood; 2) Stanislaus Perry (1823-1898) was the first Acadian elected to the Legislative Assembly of PEI and the first Acadian from the Maritime Provinces to be elected to the House of Commons in Ottawa; 3) Joseph Alphonse Bernard (1881-1962) was the first Acadian to be named Lieutenant Governor of a Canadian province. His mother was a daughter of Stanislaus Perry.

On this Acadian Day of Remembrance, I applaud my ancestors Pierre Poirier and Marguerite Girouard, remarkable survivors of the Grand Dérangement (Great Upheaval).
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Note : The information about Pierre Poirier as being one of the escapees from Fort Lawrence in 1755 comes from the research of genealogist Placide Gaudet. See: « La famille Poirier (Généalogie préparée par feu Placide Gaudet) », L’Évangéline, 28 January 1943.

Photo Caption: Léon (à Joseph à Pierre à Pierre) Poirier/Perry and Marie Bernard. They were my maternal grandfather's grandparents. They lived in Ascension, parish of Tignish. In 1915, they celebrated their 69th wedding anniversary. Léon died in 1915. He was 96 years old. Léon and Marie had 16 children, six of whom died in childhood.

Photo caption: Five generations of the Poirier family, of Tignish, 1903. From left to right: Joseph, François, Jean, Gilbert et Colas