A report written in 1956 by Helen Baird Vance tells about early programs of the YWCA, including the founding of Y-Teens.

“In the past ten years the young adult program has been expanded and interest and hobby groups added. In 1953 girl’s work was introduced. This was not a new program for the Y but it’s Girls Work in the early years became the Girl Scout program. So in responding to requests for “something for teen-agers” Y-Teens came into being with Mrs. Maynard Lawrence, the director. She was followed in 1955 by co-directors, Mrs. Dale Foell and Mrs. Harold Collins. Under their guidance Y-Teens have developed a program for themselves which has proved stimulating and purposeful. Christmas wreath sales yielded an excellent profit and they are using it to improve their basement room, painting and decorating after school and on Saturdays. Their program planning, their devotions, their interest in others are rewarding experiences.

In 1951, a swim camp program was inaugurated and little girls from seven to twelve are learning to swim, each summer. The high school pool or the municipal pool have been utilized with Mrs. Art Hass as director and a corps of qualified assistants. Sixty to one hundred girls participate each year.

Perhaps the most intangible but certainly an important segment of community service is job placement and counseling. The YWCA maintains a list of women and girls seeking employment as well as a room registry. Transients are housed either at the Y or at an approved room. If they are short of funds, the Y provides for them. Personal services account for about 2,000 calls a year.”

 This Week at the HHH

•Monday: Floral Club, 1 p.m.

•Tuesday: Chamber of Commerce Business After Hours, 5 p.m.

•Thursday: Y’s Women, 6:30 p.m.

•Friday: ASD Family Respite Night at the YMCA at 6 p.m.

 Coming soon

•Social Concerns: Avoiding Bank Fraud Scams by Andrea Hodges from US Bank at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 16. Free and open to the public. Please register at 433-4243 to attend.

•Remembering Downtown Austin: Thursday, Oct. 18 at noon at the HHH. Dustin Heckman of the Mower County Historical Society and Laura Helle of the HHH will present on the history of Austin’s down town area. Free to members of either organization, $5 admission to non-members. Please register to attend at 433-4243.

•Austin’s Best Bartender BBQ: Friday, Oct.19 at 5 p.m. Area bar tenders will compete in accuracy and showmanship rounds for the title. Piggy Blues BBQ available for purchase. $5 cover. Call for details.

•Halloween Costume Dance for Kids: Saturday, Oct. 27, from 3 to 5 p.m. $1 admission, offered in cooperation with the Mower County 4-H Ambassadors.