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A MODEL Y.M.C.A.
[Welland Tribune, 2 April 1907]
The above is a picture of the Stratford Y.M.C.A. The building is one of the finest of the kind in Canada, and the work carried on under the direction of the secretary, J.W. Ward, shows many evidences that the Stratford institution is fulfilling in a splendid measure the purposes for which it was intended.
The Y.M.C.A. is new in Welland, and, by the size of the town, it is restricted in membership and some of the details of the work, but it has come to stay. To those on the role of membership and to those others who have earnestly supported the enterprise a description of the Stratford Y.M.C.A. will be of interest.
The building shown in the picture was erected at a cost of $25,000 and was opened two years ago. The Grand Trunk Railway which operates large shops at Stratford gave the site for the building and this includes as well an area in the rear for bowling, tennis and baseball. The railway company as well gave a liberal subscription toward the building fund.
The building seems to have everything that should belong to a well-appointed and equipped Y.M.C.A. The parlor and social room is as inviting as a place could be; the business office has all the accessories.
The library has three thousand volumes. There are three reading rooms, a general, a boys’ and one for the railway men who are permitted to hit the pipe as they pour over books and magazines.
A splendid gift to the institution was that made by William Battershall-swimming tank 35×24, six shower baths and stalls of Italian marble and two tub baths.
The Y.M.C.A. is interesting, however, chiefly for what it does. J.H. Moffatt, one whose name is well-known in the furniture trade, gives lessons in furniture designing. A night school is conducted by George W. Slaughter, the work embracing the most elementary arithmetic on the one hand up to matriculation on the other. Music is taught by L.R. Bridgman.
The boys have a place all to themselves down stairs, where they conduct a King Arthur’s Round Table Club. They have mock courts and trials, councils and parliaments.
A leading factor in the sport of Stratford is the Y.M.C.A: Basketball, hockey, baseball and football are centred about the institution.
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