Bill Hetland returns for YMCA fundraiser
Former editor and Y catalyst is guest speaker
Bill Hetland, former editor of Mesabi Daily News, will be guest speaker at the Mesabi Family YMCA fundraiser on Friday, April 23, and he’s really looking forward to it.
Hetland said one of the two most important things he accomplished during his tenure on the Iron Range was writing an editorial about the need for a YMCA in the Virginia area. That was in late 1981.
“In my 21 years in journalism, I’ve never written a column, before or after that, that received so much response from readers,” he said.
As a result of the column, 150 people turned out for a meeting at Mesabi Community College, and more organizational meetings followed, often held at Hetland’s apartment. He lined up speakers from the YMCA’s administration, and a tour of the Grand Rapids YMCA facility. A board of directors was selected, a Blandin Foundation grant was secured, and donations from the community were coming in.
Hetland left the area soon after that, but his efforts lived on. “I was working at another newspaper in ’84, and I heard that the national YMCA had issued a charter for the Mesabi Family YMCA.” It was a very proud moment for him. The Mesabi Family YMCA operated as a “storefront” organization, providing programming out of various offices until their current facilities were built in 1992.
Hetland is no longer in the newspaper business, after a long career that spanned 10 newspapers in seven states. He told me that the second most important thing that happened during his time here was when he entered treatment for alcoholism at Hazelden after writing about alcoholism on the Range. April 1 marked his 29th year of sobriety. “I wouldn’t be alive today if I were still drinking,” he said.
You can read about how Hetland’s life is still marked by alcoholism despite decades of sobriety at his blog: http://misadventuresofbillybump. blogspot. com/.
Today, Hetland is Communications Coordinator for Nicasa, a national leader in the field of substance abuse prevention and treatment, and the promotion of healthy lifestyles through advocacy, training, and education programming. He lives in Kenosha, WI.
Welcome back, Bill!
