Jun. 12—A day many in Sampson County anxiously awaited finally came Thursday with the grand opening of the Sampson County YMCA, which opened its doors at the former Center for Health and Wellness site.

The opening ceremony drew huge crowds as members from across the community gathered together to celebrated yet another historic moment for Sampson. It was a sentiment Clinton Mayor Lew Starling shared as he spoke on the importance of the moment.

"Today is truly a historic event and Clinton will be 250 years old this year," he said. "I go to a lot of ribbon cuttings, but rarely do we create history. I do believe today is a historic event. We built the hospital here in 1950, Burrows and Mabel Lundy came to Clinton in 1950 to build the Lundy Packing Company, which is now Smithfield, with 1,300 employees and then Piggly Wiggly in 1962. All of these are historic events that have changed the landscape here and, with the YMCA coming to Clinton, that's big."

"We have pent-up demand and we're all ready to get out after this awful COVID, of which the hospital did an excellent job helping us through that very awful, awful tragedy," Starling said. "We're excited about the Y — we'll be good neighbors, good partners and this will be a long, long term relationship."

There was nothing but excited faces on community members who flooded the YMCA. Even after the ceremony ended, the fun persisted as all who came got enjoy a raffle drawing hosted by the Y. There were free memberships, classes and even Air Pods up for grabs.

While the community was overjoyed, it wasn't just the residents who were filled with joy as key figures from the Y, who were also in attendance, were equally as excited for this moment.

A couple of them shared their thoughts on reaching opening day and their excitement after completing the long journey.

"We're really excited, this has been a long time coming," YMCA Director of Financial Development & Marketing, Sarah Gibbs, said. "We're thrilled to be serving the greater Sampson County community and couldn't be more excited for this day to finally be here."

The YMCA is located at 417 E. Johnson St., Clinton. It is offering members an array of cardio and strength equipment along with an indoor pool, whirlpool, group exercise studio, child watch area, gymnasium, racquetball court, indoor track and teaching kitchen.

"We're starting off with memberships, health and wellness programs, aquatics program and some childcare," Gibbs stated. "We plan on expanding those programs in the coming months and hopefully doing a lot more with youth programming. We're looking forward to it and glad we had such a turnout. The community has really opened their arms to us, had a warm embrace and we're happy to be here."

"It's exciting and it's a relief, the team has put in a lot of work over the last six months," YMCA Executive Director Jared Barrier said. "With the uncertainty of things now and how it could affect staffing, construction, training materials and all of that, it can be very difficult."

"We had some great assistance from our association leadership and a lot from our other branch leadership and staff at our branches in Wilmington," he continued. "They came up and we're a huge resource for us, especially early on with getting our staff hired and trained. All that's been essential in being able to open today; it's just very exciting. I know there are great things ahead for the Sampson County YMCA and Sampson County itself."

With the YMCA now open they brought with them numerous new full-time and part-time employees. Having brought in so many new face each of them were equally eager to get started serving the community.

One such employee and a new personal trainer at the Y, Eric Kea, shared his thoughts on all of this.

"I just moved back to Sampson County and I'm originally from Duplin County," he said. "When I heard that the Y was opening, I was excited about it because of the community togetherness that it'll bring back in. I'm also excited about the way it's going to bring out more healthier lifestyles within the community and help them make healthier lifestyle changes.

"Also, getting the kids more involved with the different activities out here. It's about trying to build a foundation for them — a foundation that'll maybe one day make them want to become a part of the Y themselves," Kea continued. "I'm so excited about personal training here. Training is my passion so that's why obviously I'm overly excited about it, because I love training. I love the aspect of fitness and helping people make fitness a lifestyle that's a part of their daily life."

Plenty of words were shared about this momentous occasion and Dick Jones, YMCA of Southern NC President and CEO, made sure he expressed his. He echoed the positivity of those that spoke before him.

"This is an exciting day for the community and certainly for our YMCA, it's been a long time coming," he said. "We really began conversations a little over a year ago, finalized things with our board last fall and then began working with HN Carr to get work underway."

"The construction challenges today are not insurmountable, but they certainly breed patience," Jones said with a chuckle. "We are so pleased with the staff we've been able to hire. We, gosh, I'll get the number wrong, but I think we're working with 60 or 70, full time and part time staff right now. Most of those are part-time staff, but as we continue to grow we'll be looking for collaborations with parks and recs and the schools. Plus, we'll be adding a lot more part-time staff as well in those capacities."

"It's going to be great for the community," he added. "Obviously, it helps in wellness focus for kids and families, but also from an economic standpoint for employees and employment. What more can I say other than we're just excited to be here."

To learn more about becoming a Y member, joining online or more information visit www.ymcasenc.org/sampson.

Reach Michael B. Hardison at 910-249-4231. Follow us on Twitter at @SamsponInd, like us on Facebook, and check out our Instagram at @thesampsonindependent.