Nov 8th 1910

Nov 8, 1910


Inspection at the gym. In special work I was on all the apparatus. Refereed the BB game & about 20 of us did stunts in the plunge for the visitors ladies & gents. 


W. Rainy
R. 11:30

Adam's YMCA in Syracuse. I love seeing where he went!

I was going to use tonight to catch up on the past week but I really can't ignore this opportunity to tell you a little more about Adam.

First of all, he was on the apparatus!!! How impressive. I really wish I knew what apparatus he was referring to. And stunts! Boy, can't you picture Bess in the stands, and she's either very impressed, or slightly embarrassed by Adam throwing himself all over the gym.

Which brings me to the gym. The gym is the YMCA. He's been going there since the beginning of the diary and before. I found newspaper articles with his name in them from 1907-1909ish for being on the basketball team. He plays on his factory Basket Ball team (Monarch Typewriter) and as you know, if you've been reading about him for any length of time, he plays all kinds of sports and seems to really relish it.

Now the problem with only having a diary for one year is that it's hard to imagine what happens next. It might be easy to think that Adam worked in a factory for the rest of his life. It seems to support him fairly well and he doesn't complain a lot. And his dad and his brother also work in factories.

I'm here to tell you folks, that all of his leadership classes paid off because he does not remain a factory worker for the rest of his life!

By 1920, (because I read it in the census) he lives in Watertown NY with his family (more on that another time!!) and he works at the YMCA! (Seriously, is this NOT like me working at the museum?!?!?) by the time he dies at age 59 in 1943 (from his obit)  he is the Director of the YMCA in Watertown! When I first found this out I was so touched, I had a second of pause and thought how happy I was that this worked out for him.  Except for his discussions about what he's doing with friends and family, he talks about athletics the most. How lucky!

In the local Watertown papers I cam across a bunch of articles that included his name in BB scores or trips for kids camping and such. He coaches, he referees and he still plays sports after 1910. I love that he gets to live on of his passions!