Armed Services YMCA a multifaceted Hawaii institution

In the past, I’ve written quite a bit about the old Royal Hawaiian Hotel, which opened downtown on Richards and Hotel streets in 1872.

I’ve written much less about what took its place — the Army Navy YMCA — in 1917. It welcomed millions of clean-faced American boys who found themselves serving their country here. It was a home away from home that gave them a place to stay and activities to participate in.

The Armed Services YMCA turns 100 this year. “The organization is proud to have served the military longer, and in larger numbers, than any other nonprofit,” said Executive Director Laurie Moore.

The idea was to provide an in-town headquarters were soldiers and sailors could go for worthwhile recreation and activities. The numbers that flocked to the Army Navy Y show how much it was needed: In its first 10 years, 10 million military personnel passed through its doors.

The Y had 450 single rooms and later built rooms for 62 families. It had a gymnasium, pool, fitness center, auditorium, game rooms, locker rooms, meeting rooms and coffee shop, as well as a library, movie hall, music lounge, barber shop and laundry. Its writing service helped unschooled servicemen compose letters home to loved ones.

Tours of the island, gardens and temples were organized on weekends. Sports leagues and tournaments were popular.

There were weekly singing programs, dance nights, band concerts and family nights. A housing desk helped over 300 people a month find scarce rentals in Honolulu in the 1950s.

SALE UPSETS RESIDENTS

After World War II, the name was changed to Armed Services YMCA, and program offerings reflected the new times. The selections included driving instruction, English-language classes for foreign-born spouses, healthy baby programs, a nursery school and even a center for abused spouses.

Armed Services YMCA officials called it the “finest enlisted men’s club in the world.”

In 1988, the building was sold to Chris Hemmeter for his company headquarters, and the YMCA moved to new social-service centers on Wheeler, Hickam and Pearl Harbor bases. (Today, the original building houses the Hawaii State Art Museum.)

A few longtime Y residents were interviewed by local newspapers before the building was sold.

Adriano Hernandes, 83, was upset at having to move, even though the Navy said it would find him a place. He had lived in an 8-by-10-foot room at the Armed Services Y for 34 years, since his retirement from the Navy as a chief petty officer.

Hernandes fought in World War II and moved into the Y afterward when it was less than $2 a night. During the 1970s, the rate was bumped up to $270 a month, the veteran said. He showed reporters the two good tweed jackets he had in his closet as well as a couple of dapper straw hats to wear on evenings out.

The seven-member Cullen family originally planned to stay at the Armed Services Y for three days but kept extending their residency. LaVerne Cullen told reporters her children came to love the Y and they didn’t want to leave. They often didn’t come upstairs until the pool closed at night.

The mother said there were some undesirables at the Y — alcoholics, drug abusers and streetwalkers — but that showed her children the “outside world is not all honey and roses.” They learned to deal with all kinds of people and are not prejudiced because they have a mix of friends.

“When it was announced that the building was being sold, my children got very upset. They said we would never find another place like this.”

KEEPING WITH THE TIMES

The first Young Men’s Christian Association in Hawaii started April 30, 1869. It was founded by Sanford B. Dole, Peter Cushman Jones and Thomas R. Walker. The group’s original purpose was to help find Sunday school teachers for local churches.

In its first 30 years, the YMCA did not believe in serious exercise, thinking Hawaii was too hot for such exertions.

By 1876, it began opening ethnic-based branches for Chinese, Japanese, Koreans and Filipinos. Then in 1911, the branches were joined into the first multiethnic Y in the world, the Nuuanu YMCA.

“While the programs offered by the Armed Services YMCA of Honolulu have evolved since our initial support of Hawaii’s military members, the core mission remains the same: to enhance the lives of military members and their families through programs that are relevant to the unique challenges of military life,” Moore said.

“We’ve definitely progressed with the times: Our historic dance band competitions have become father-daughter dances, and game rooms have evolved into robotics camps. All the while we’ve remained on the scene, providing programs and services that are relevant in the moment,” Moore added.

BROAD SUPPORT

Today, the Armed Services YMCA operates programs at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Wheeler, Schofield, Tripler Army Medical Center, Aliamanu Military Reservation, and various schools and community centers throughout Oahu.

It provides support for the Wounded Warrior battalions and sponsors preschools, summer camps, holiday programs and kids’ cooking classes. Emergency financial assistance is offered when needed.

While their staff of 35 and budget of $1.6 million are relatively small, their impact is significant. In fact, last year they served over 49,000 service members and their families from all branches of service.

What began in 1917 as a place for soldiers to go for a shower or a temporary bed, or to meet a “proper” girl, has grown with the times into a mature, multifaceted organization.

HAWAII’S ‘POET LAUREATE’

Several readers have asked me to write about Hawaii’s “poet laureate,” Don Blanding (1894-1957). Blanding wrote for both Honolulu dailies, published over 20 books and was the founder of Lei Day in 1927.

He passed away 60 years ago last month, and as a tribute to him, I thought I’d share one of his poems.

———

“Somehow”

I’ve tried for many an hour and minute

To think of this world without me in it.

I can’t imagine a newborn day

Without me here … somehow … some way.

I cannot think of autumn’s flare

Without me here … alive … aware.

I can’t imagine a dawn in spring

Without my heart awakening.

These treasured days will come and go

At swifter pace … but this I know …

I have no fear … I have no dread

Of that marked day that lies ahead.

My flesh will turn to ash and clay

But I’ll be here … Somehow … some way.

— Don Blanding

Bob Sigall, author of “The Companies We Keep” series of books, looks through his collection of old photos to tell stories of Hawaii people, places and companies. Contact him via email at sigall@yahoo.com.