My memories of Adventure Clubs campouts with my dad are some of my most cherished from my childhood. Doing something unique with just my dad always felt special because he worked so hard in his career but never missed taking time out to have fun on these trips and leave all that behind to focus on quality time together. I remember we both made lifelong friends through this program and the Y. When my daughter was finally old enough to participate in Adventure Clubs, I jumped at the chance to spend time with her and share with her some of the experiences I shared with my dad, and make new friends for us both in the process. Being able to get outside the daily grind and bond together under the stars, in the fresh air, and slow life down for a little while, just the two of us, is an unparalleled experience of incredible value in the relationship between a father and child. My daughter and I, and my dad, are so grateful to the Y for Adventure Clubs. “Pals Forever.”

Joining the Adventure Club program was the best decision I ever made as a parent. It was a bonding experience like no other. For seven years, I went on extraordinarily fun outdoor adventures with our girls. They’re now grown women, and recall those many long weekends with great fondness, and consider them foundational to their childhoods. Those events also fostered close friendships between the dads, and more than two decades later some of those guys are still among my very best friends. And for many of us dads, Adventure Clubs introduced us to the unique magic of the Y, and how it could benefit families and our community in such profound and lasting ways. Today several of us who so enjoyed those campouts with our kids serve together on the Rancho Family YMCA Board of Advisors, where one of our goals is to ensure that programs such as the Adventure Club will continue to thrive and to serve families from all walks of life, as it did for us. In our home hangs a shadow box my wife made after our girls aged out of Adventure Club, to honor and memorialize those cherished years.