A member of the Boothbay Region YMCA since 1955, Maxine Tourtillotte attributes her well-being and health to hours spent at the Y.

Tourtillotte, 89, joined the Y when it first opened and is now only living person who has had a continuous membership in the YMCA since day one. She was recently named YMCA annual fund chair.

Even though the Y has changed over time, Tourtillotte feels that it is as important as the schools and the churches and dares anyone who takes exception to that to call her; it builds character, she says.

“You are never too old to use the YMCA. I’ll be 90 on my next birthday; if I can reach out and do things, anyone can,” Tourtillotte said.

During a recent interview, Tourtillotte talked about the early families involved in the Y; the volunteers who made the Y what it is today. The first families, along with Tourtillotte and her husband, included Pat and Blenn Perkins, Dr. Harry and Louise Abelon, Kay and Charlie Rowe, Betty and Rupert Neily, Connie and Del Ham, The Annabels, Jane and Erving Conley, and Nancy and Edward Harding.

She gave credit to attorney J. Blenn Perkins and Walter Buzzell for their part in creating the Boothbay Region YMCA.

“That first summer, Assistant Director William MacCormick met us at the Gate House to check us in. We mowed the lawn, built picnic tables, painted bath houses and tried to keep water in the (saltwater) pool, because when the tide went out, if our chewing gum hadn’t held, we could be dry,” Tourtillotte said.

Her sons Jack and Earl Tourtillotte were members as well. “I was a camper, camp counselor, waterfront assistant and assistant director,” Jack Tourtillotte said.

“When Earl was 6 years old, he would bounce a basketball from our house in West Harbor to the Opera House (where the Y programs were held); he still works out (at the current Y) today,” Maxine Tourtillotte said.

The first director at the YMCA camp at Back Narrows was Walter Buzzell. “I can still see Walter coming down over the field; he lived in the house and the Y eventually bought it from him,” Tourtillotte said.

Her husband John Tourtillotte was a good friend of second full-time Director Arthur Warner. John Tourtillotte taught aerobic exercises in the gym after he finished work in the evening.

He owned a machine shop and foundry and fabricated the first starting blocks for the Y’s Emery Pool, which have since been given to the Portsmouth, N.H., YMCA.

“A lifetime of physical activity is very important for your body and mind,” Tourtillotte said. “If it wasn’t for the therapeutic pool, I wouldn’t be here today.”

Today, four generations of Tourtillottes look forward to swimming in the pool and playing basketball. Her grandchildren from away especially love the pool.

“The Y means so much to me that if I can give something back I will,” Tourtillotte said.

She does give back. Every weekday morning Tourtillotte and several friends gather after their daily exercise regiments in the Howard Gordon Lounge near the pool-end of the building. Tourtillotte organizes a “goodie run,” where she encourages everyone to take turns bringing a baked good each morning. If a contributor cannot come on a particular morning, Tourtillotte finds a way to retrieve the treat for the group.

“Andy (Hamblett, Boothbay Region YMCA executive director) just knows when we have home baked muffins. He comes right in; he loves fresh baked muffins,” Tourtillotte said.

“Maxine has made the Howard Gordon Lounge into a little social center,” Hamblett said. “It is the heart of the Y, building relationships; it’s a multigenerational group that gathers for healthy living and staying involved. This group calls each other for rides, and will go and visit each other. It doesn’t always happen within the Y building itself.”

Tourtillotte shared that she has made many friends at the Y, especially the late Ginny Conn, whom she would have liked to co-chair this year’s fund drive with.

“The Y does so much good, especially the after-school programs for the kids,” Tourtillotte said.

For information on donating to the Y annual fund, contact Doris Welch at dwelch@brymca.org or 633-2855. For volunteer opportunities, contact Helen Meserve at hmeserve@gmail.com.

Boothbay Region YMCA history

• First Young Men’s Christian Association founded 1844, London, by Sir George Williams
• First YMCA in U.S., 1851, by a group in Boston
• First YMCA organized in Boothbay Region, April 14,1877; 52 members

The second YMCA in the region

• First organizer, James Blenn Perkins, 1955
• First President Harlow Russell
• First Treasurer Waldo Russell
• First Secretary Louise Abelon
• First members: Dorothy Abbott, Aage Nielsen, Blenn Perkins and Dr. John F. Andrews
• First Director Walter Buzzell
• First Assistant Director William MacCormick
• First Day Camp, Back Narrows: 1956; $71,250 Harlow and Susan Russell gift
• First Summer Day Camp Directors June and Vaughn Hathoway
• First year-round Y facility: Oct. 22, 1959; Colby residence now Thistle Inn, Oak Street
• First year of the Y building across from the high school: Aug. 27,1967, dedication
• First Y pool: Aug. 24,1974, dedication

Directors

• Walter Buzzell 1956-1960 (4 years)
• Arthur Warner 1960-1970 (10 years), first director of new Y facility on Route. 27
• David Parkhurst and Donald Lewis, interim, 1970-1971 (1 year)
• Leonard A. Willett 1971-1977 (6 years)
• Jack Rego 1977-1983 (6 years)
• Mike Harrison 1983-2001 (*18 years)
• Andrew Hamblett 2002-present