Be The One To Turn Dreams Into Reality |
|
|
|
Charles E. Thompson
Director, Whitin Community Center 1974-2007
I was asked to share why I choose to give to the Whitin Community Center and it brought to mind one of my favorite moments.
|
|
|
For 33 years, I had the best job in the world – Director of the Whitin Community Center in my childhood town of Whitinsville. Like all Whitinsville kids, I grew up at “the Gym,” a constant source of fun, programs, and learning.
|
|
I was just 23 in 1974 when the Center’s Board of Trustees decided to take a chance on me. I worked tirelessly to make “the Gym” a success so that it could head into the future continuing to serve the people of the Blackstone Valley. |
|
"For 33 years, I had the best job in the world – Director of the Whitin Community Center" |
|
In 1990 when we renovated the space which contained the building’s original lobby, I decided to take out some old framed pictures from storage to display on the walls. All shot by the Adams Studio of Whitinsville (a former local photography business), these photos chronicled the many outstanding team and individual athletes from the 1920’s and 1930’s. Basketball, volleyball, gymnastics, and team swimming. How this building must have echoed with the cheers and applause over the heroics of these athletes from long ago. |
|
|
|
One particular picture showed a young woman named Alice Bridges, who was a New England Backstroke Champion in the mid 1930’s. I decided to dig a little deeper about this young person from neighboring Uxbridge.
She was born in 1916. In her early childhood, she was diagnosed with a heart murmur. Her doctor prescribed exercise to strengthen her heart. She chose the newly opened Whitin Community Center with its state of the art swimming pool.
|
|
|
Alice Bridges was, indeed, a champion New England swimmer. So good, in fact, that at age 20 she was selected as an alternate on the U.S. Olympic Swim Team heading overseas for competition in Berlin, Germany. (The famous Adolph Hitler Olympics, to which we remember the great track and field star, Jesse Owens and his four gold medals.) Alice was not scheduled to swim in competition, but the star swimmer of the U.S. team was disqualified and it fell upon Alice to carry the honors for the U.S. |
|
She swam in the Backstroke Competition, and, initially, it appeared that she had won the gold. Later, the judges reversed the decision and awarded Alice the Bronze. First and second places went to two Dutch swimmers, more suitable to Hitler’s promotion of the “Aryan Race.”
Back home, after a triumphant welcoming, Alice settled down, married, and resumed her life, eventually moving to Carleigh, PA.
|
|
|
In 2006, Alice’s Uxbridge family members convinced the state to honor their Olympic champion with a bridge over the Mumford River named for her. Alice came back for the ceremony, now age 90. I heard about her return to the area, and asked family members if I could invite Alice back to the Community Center, where her road to triumph began. She hadn’t been back to the Whitin Community Center since 1940! They consented, and we set up a simple luncheon in the original lobby area, where her picture had hung so proudly over the decades. |
|
|
|
She was one of the most amazing people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. She showed me her bronze medal, told stories about Hitler and the Olympics, and reminisced about her days at the Community Center as a young girl and teen.
Then we walked across the Gym floor and I opened the door to our “Original” pool and let her stand out on the deck. Her eyes swept across the pool and up to the balcony, where I’m sure she could still hear the cheers from the packed house of fans.
It was a powerful moment for me. I think I already knew what the Whitin Community Center meant to the many, many people in our area, but this really drove it home.
|
|
|
As a retiree now, I still volunteer my time and give of some of my treasure to this most wonderful and unique institution. |
|
"It was a powerful moment for me." |
|
COVID-19 has hit the Whitin Community Center hard. But it is still moving ahead….to be there for the next generation of Alice Bridges’ and beyond.
The Center helps turn dreams into reality. Just ask Alice Bridges, perhaps our most famous Alumni.
Please give to the Whitin Community Center year-end appeal.
- Charles E. Thompson, Director, Whitin Community Center 1974-2007
|
|
If you have the capacity, please consider making a gift to the Whitin Community Center, so we can continue to make dreams a reality, and support the health & well-being for all ages and backgrounds in the Blackstone Valley.
The IRS reminds people there's a new provision that allows for up to $300 in cash donations to qualifying organizations to be deducted from income. ... Under this new change, individual taxpayers can claim an "above-the-line" deduction of up to $300 for cash donations made to charity during 2020.
|
|
|
Whitin Community Center
60 Main St. Whitinsville, MA 01588
508.234.8184
www.WhitinCommunityCenter.com
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
