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April 2009 This issue home | Past issues | Chamber home YMCA Honors Ernest Randall For nearly 50 years the impact of Ernest Randall’s leadership has been evident in the Richardson community, but the impact of the YMCA on Ernest began nearly seventy years ago in Vicksburg Mississippi. Ernest grew up in the late 1940’s and was active in the YMCA there swimming, playing basketball in the gym and playing tennis. The YMCA was very important to Ernest in his formative years. After graduation from college, Ernest moved to Richardson as a young Engineer at Texas Instruments. In 1960, Richardson was a town of 16,000 with no library or YMCA. Ernest wanted to change the fact that there was no YMCA in his new town. With the help of Charlie Boyle from the Park Cities YMCA and local businessman, Jerry Owens Richardson was a small but growing community with many young families with kids, and not much industry. Ernest reports in the early days running an annual campaign was hard, but he stuck with it, working on all 46 campaigns to date, a feat matched by no other Richardson volunteer. As Richardson was growing so was Ernest’s family. Ernest along with his wife, Jean and their two children participated in all the activities at the YMCA from sports, swimming to the Indian Guides program. As Ernest says, “Once the tree is bent, it just grows that way,” and that was the way it was with the Y. Ernest stories of the YMCA’s early years are so clear in his memory he tells them like they were yesterday. He is proud of his work and continues to serve on the YMCA Advisory Committee as well as the Annual Partners Campaign. Ernest’s leadership at the Richardson stretches over more than 45 years serving on the Board, as Chairman and numerous committees. Ernest’s advocacy reaches far beyond money as he preaches his YMCA story illustrating to Richardson residents the influence a group of committed people can contribute to the health of a community. Ernest’s vision and desire to have a YMCA in his community has certainly impacted generations of children and families in the Richardson community. Ernest Randall’s legacy will continue to help build strong kids, strong families and a stronger community. Action News is a monthly publication of the Richardson Chamber of Commerce Communications Department. Click here to Unsubscribe or email rsvp@richardsonchamber.com. |
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