{"id":154112,"date":"2026-08-27T16:50:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T16:50:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/154112\/"},"modified":"2026-08-27T16:50:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T16:50:14","slug":"baker-youth-club-starts-100th-year-of-serving-children","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/154112\/","title":{"rendered":"Baker Youth Club Starts 100th Year Of Serving Children"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>Children enjoy the magnetic wall featured in the STEM Center at BYC. Photo provided.<\/p>\n

By Abby Oliver
InkFreeNews<\/p>\n

WARSAW \u2013 Baker Youth Club<\/a> (BYC) is starting its 100th year of developing children\u2019s education, health and social skills in Warsaw and surrounding communities.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Pictured is Bramwell Baker<\/a>, an East Coast banker and Rotary Club member who challenged the city of Warsaw to match his $1,000 donation to start a boys\u2019 club. That club, Baker Boys\u2019 Club, is the foundation of Baker Youth Club<\/a> today. Photo provided by Tracy Furnivall<\/a>, executive director of BYC.<\/p>\n

BYC began as Baker Boys\u2019 Club Aug. 14, 1926, after East Coast banker and Rotary Club member Bramwell Baker<\/a> challenged Warsaw to match his $1,000 donation to start a boys\u2019 club.<\/p>\n

Pete Thorn<\/a>, a Warsaw Community School teacher and coach, was the first part-time director for 37 years until 1963, when Robert \u201cCoach\u201d Lichtenwalter stepped in. The club\u2019s current facility, \u201cLichtenwalter Center<\/a>,\u201d is named in his honor, and he was involved in the club until his passing in 2015.<\/p>\n

In 1992, Scott Wiley<\/a> became the third part-time director. Baker Boys\u2019 Club soon dropped its affiliation with the Boys Club of America, opened its doors to girls and changed its name to Baker Youth Club<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Tracy Furnivall<\/a>, BYC\u2019s first full-time director, was hired in 2003. Furnivall attended Baker Boys\u2019 Club in the 1970s and \u201980s as a child, when the club focused more on sports and activities.<\/p>\n

When Furnivall became director, BYC leadership talked to community members to determine their biggest needs. The board redeveloped its mission and purpose, emphasizing education, health and social development.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that\u2019s something that we have done in my 23 years, is listen to the community,\u201d Furnivall said. \u201cThat is how it has all developed over the years \u2026 identifying the needs in our community and then just going and making it happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, BYC\u2019s all-encompassing facility features healthy, educational and social activities for children, from summer to before- and after-school programs.<\/p>\n

During summer programs, children enjoy field trips, reading programs, athletic challenges and science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) projects.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Pictured are three of the four directors of BYC in a photo from more than a decade ago. Robert \u201cCoach\u201d Lichtenwalter, a former part-time director who has since passed away, sits at a table while Tracy Furnivall<\/a>, left, speaks with Scott Wiley<\/a>, another former part-time director. Photo provided by Tracy Furnivall<\/a>.<\/p>\n

When school is in session, parents drop off registered students at BYC before school. BYC partners with Warsaw Community Schools (WCS) to transport students to their schools. The Baker Bus, with help from WCS, then picks up students from area schools and brings them to BYC.<\/p>\n

For the first year, BYC is implementing a literacy program with WCS.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll be helping identify those second- and third-graders who need extra help for their reading scores,\u201d Furnivall said.<\/p>\n

BYC serves daily snacks and a meal every night, Monday through Thursday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a typical year, we\u2019re serving approximately 18,000 juices and snacks and over 12,000 meals a school year,\u201d Furnivall said.<\/p>\n

BYC offers homework rooms. Kindergarten through third graders have mandatory reading time, while fourth grade and older students follow an honor system. Students are encouraged to work on homework and ask for help when needed, with staff available to assist.<\/p>\n

BYC features a soccer room, two gymnasiums, a STEM Center, art room, game room and middle school caf\u00e9. The game room features a L\u00fc Interactive System, a projected, internet-based gaming system that keeps kids physically active and engaged.<\/p>\n

The STEM Center has 100 discovery tubs built and donated by the education department at Grace College, each containing a STEM task with the necessary materials.<\/p>\n

The four-member leadership team has more than 60 years of combined experience with BYC.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do not remove kids for non-payment,\u201d Furnivall said. \u201cNobody gets turned away.\u201d<\/p>\n

Furnivall said a parent recently brought in donuts and a thank-you card, thanking the staff for providing a safe environment for their children while they work.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you see and hear those stories, that\u2019s why we do what we do,\u201d Furnivall said. \u201cOur number one goal is to keep kids safe. Our second goal is to engage with them and be a positive influence in their life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Furnivall would like to see enrollment increase as BYC enters its 100th year. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, BYC saw 230 kids a day, compared with 150-160 now.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s pretty special, I think, for a not-for-profit, for any business, to survive 100 years,\u201d Furnivall said. \u201cWe\u2019re blessed with our previous three directors. I\u2019m only the fourth director in 100 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Program registration can be found at bakeryouthclub.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Children enjoy the magnetic wall featured in the STEM Center at BYC. Photo provided. By Abby OliverInkFreeNews WARSAW…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":154113,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[95],"tags":[182,181],"class_list":["post-154112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-warsaw","tag-poland","tag-warsaw"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@dk\/117168506624607073","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=154112"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154112\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/154113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=154112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=154112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=154112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}