Longtime YMCA director looks back on 30-year career
Aerobics and high-impact dance workouts were a craze in the 1990s when Sandy Ihlenfeld began leading group exercise classes at the Butler YMCA. On Tuesday, Sept. 17, she recalled the outfits people wore to her early classes, which often consisted of tight belts, tucked in shirts and shoes with little to no support.
As the executive director looked back at her career with the Butler County Family YMCA, she said the way people think about exercise is one of the biggest changes she has seen throughout her 29 years with the organization.
“The term aerobics was a new term, and everything was high impact, so we were jumping and kicking and we didn’t know any better,” Ihlenfeld said. “They got hurt because you would start with neck rolls and then kicks, because nobody knew any different. Everyone realized, ‘There needs to be some science behind this.’”
Ihlenfeld is retiring from the YMCA on Sept. 27, but will return to her roots after that date by continuing to teach classes in cardio and strength training after leaving her administrative role.
Feeling a mix of emotions as her retirement date approaches, Ihlenfeld said the thing she will miss most is being constantly involved in the culture of the YMCA. She said the place has a “Cheers-like” environment, which has been consistent since her first day on the job.
“It’s like you come in and everyone knows your name,” Ihlenfeld said. “I really still like that the Y is a Christian organization where everybody can come and belong. We expect everyone to treat everyone with kindness and respect.”
“Executive director” is the seventh job title Ihlenfeld has had through her time at the YMCA. After starting as a group exercise instructor, Ihlenfeld went on to train other trainers locally, and later on an international level. Ihlenfeld named her time traveling overseas to other YMCAs as one of her career highlights.
“I traveled for the Y around the world for about 10 years and taught in different countries,” she said. “I started teaching instructors here how to be better instructors, then in the tri-state area I taught instructors, then I became on the international trainer team. That was cool.”
As exercise science grew as a field of study, Ihlenfeld returned to school to get a bachelor’s degree in the field from Slippery Rock University in 2010, then a graduate degree from University of Pittsburgh in 2014, all while working full-time at the YMCA.
Aside from her roles in physical training, Ihlenfeld said her administrative roles have also been rewarding, particularly her work facilitating the creation of a community space, and kick starting the Reach & Rise program about five years ago.
Additionally, Ihlenfeld was involved in creating partnerships with the Butler County Area Agency on Aging and VA Butler Healthcare.
“One would be setting up partnerships that are still in play that help the community, like our partnership with the agency on aging and the VA,” she said. “Setting up those partnerships that serve seniors and vets in Butler County, I was able to do that and they are still active today.”
Christina Dreher, development director of the Butler YMCA, said Ihlenfeld has been a good mentor in engaging with the community and building relationships; and Ihlenfeld will be a presence she will miss once she retires.
“She has helped me make connections, learn how to build relationships, learn how to steward donors,” Dreher said. “I think everyone will miss her, staff and board members to those who come to the Y.”
Ihlenfeld said she announced her retirement to the YMCA months ago, and the YMCA has been making a succession plan since. Ihlenfeld’s replacement began work Monday, and may be a familiar face to longtime visitors of the Butler YMCA.
Tom Spence, who was previously director of the Scenic Rivers YMCA in Venango County and an administrator at the Butler YMCA in the 1980s, will fill her spot.
Dave Hilliard, CEO of the Butler YMCA, said Ihlenfeld leaves big shoes to fill at the YMCA, but he’s confident that Spence will bring good things to the role, too.
“I actually put Sandy in that position of executive director because she has proven she can be successful in everything she has ever been in charge of,” Hilliard said.
Dreher, too, said she will miss Ihlenfeld’s good leadership, but added that she has set the remaining staff up for success.
“She’s a great leader because she’s caring and she’s compassionate, but she’s tough,” Dreher said. “I also believe that she has instilled all of those things in us and that’s how her legacy will live on.”
Ihlenfeld took a lap around the building Tuesday, where she greeted staff and visitors alike. She said the YMCA community has grown to be her main community in the time that she has been there, and that the relationships she has with people through the YMCA will continue on after her retirement.
“There are relationships I have for many years that are separate from the Y; they are just relationships,” Ihlenfeld said. “I have asked them to serve on our board of managers here, maybe ask them to read to our children here. Some of those relationships started there.”
