About the Chandler/Gilbert Y-Guides:

What is the Y-Guides Program?

The Y-Guides Program is part of the YMCA's Y-Adventure Programs -- the new successor to the Y-Indian programs founded in 1926.

The Y-Guides is a father-son program that fosters fun, understanding and companionship. The main idea is fathers and sons spending quality time together -- camping, hiking, making craft projects, playing games, sharing stories, songs and the camaraderie of other fathers and sons. There is a strong emphasis on outdoor activities, especially overnight campouts.

The boys are usually are in elementary school, Grades K-5.

What are the activities and when are they held?

The calendar of events generally follows a typical school year, from Fall to Spring. Sign up begins in August, just as the kids are starting back to school. The season runs through the winter and spring months and ends at the beginning of June.

Each Circle, consisting of 4-10 father/son pairs, holds a monthly meeting at one of the members' homes. The Circle meeting includes a song, a story, a game, a craft project, and a snack. It is conducted within a structured framework designed to keep the boys (and dads!) interested and having fun.

Each month also features a Nation event in which all the Circles of the Chandler/Gilbert Nation participate. Most months, this event is an overnight campout during the weekend. Campouts are held at group campsites -- reserved in advance just for our group's use -- in designated campgrounds, typically in Arizona state parks or national forest campsites administered by the U.S. Forest Service. Each December, instead of camping, the Nation hosts a Pinewood Derby race -- a fantastic event for father/son cooperation and competition. In January, we attend "Winter Camp" in the Bradshaw mountains -- a rare opportunity for us desert dwellers to sled, play in the snow and sleep in heated cabins. The Nation also enters a float in the Chandler Ostrich Festival parade in the Spring.

When can I sign up?

Anytime! Although the program gets started at the beginning of the school year, new members can join at any time during the year. It's never too late to get started on father-son bonding, camping, outdoor adventures and FUN!

For More Information Contact:

Y-Guides Navigator: Guy Bieber

Slogan
"Friends Forever"

Pledge
"We, father and son, through friendly service to each other,
to our family, to this circle, to our community,
seek a world pleasing to the eye of the Creator."

Aims
To be clean in body and pure in heart.
To be Friends Forever with my father/son.
To love the sacred circle of my family.
To listen while others speak.
To love my neighbor as myself.
To respect the traditions and beliefs of all people.
To seek and preserve the beauty of the Creator's work in forest, field and stream.