For 75 years, the Grenville Baker Boys & Girls Club has provided
a second home for children in Locust Valley and the surrounding
communities.
From its early days as a boys’ club focused on athletics to its evolution into a full-service youth development organization, the organization has been a cornerstone of community life.
To celebrate its milestone anniversary, club officials reflected on its past while looking forward to a future of continued service. Nassau County Court Judge Colin O’Donnell, chairman of the club’s board, has been involved with Grenville Baker since 1969, when he joined as a young boy.
For O’Donnell, the child of Scottish immigrants who was named Grenville Baker’s 1979 Youth of the Year, the club became an essential part of his
American experience.
“I was assimilated to American culture because of the boys’ club,” he recalled. “I learned all the sports there. The club became my first employer as a (counselor in training) and then a camp counselor. Even during college, I was full-time summer staff.”
O’Donnell’s involvement with the club continued into adulthood. After earning a partial scholarship through the club and attending law school, he served as board president and is now chairman. He explained that it was the connections he made that kept him coming back.
“I think it’s definitely the people that were the staff and volunteers. They were dedicated,” O’Donnell said. “When (alumni) talk about their memories, they talk about a staff member, someone who either took an interest in how they played a certain sport or helped them in their education.”
Melissa Rhodes, the club’s executive director, has a similarly deep connection. Her father, a member from the late 1950s to the mid-1960s, stayed active as an adult, particularly with events like the annual clambake and the golf tournament. Rhodes herself joined in 1986.
“I was a very shy kid,” she said. “But that wore off really fast. I just loved being at the club. I didn’t ever want to leave. I literally attended every single day one year.” Grenville Baker has undergone significant changes over the
decades.
Originally an after-school sports program focused on football, basketball and baseball, it expanded into social recreation and education.
In 1981, it merged with the local girls’ club, combining resources to serve both boys and girls. And over the past two decades, the club has introduced programs such as English as a Second Language, computer labs and college prep initiatives. More recently, in response to the coronavirus pandemic, it added a meditation center as well as social workers who offer mental health support.
“We used to have a rifle range back in the ’50s and ’60s, where kids would have BB gun competitions,” O'Donnell said. “Now we have social workers, bilingual social workers, part-time and full-time staff. That’s how we’ve evolved.”
Despite the changes, one thing has remained constant: The sense of community. O’Donnell recalled Saturdays in his childhood filled
with sports, games and a longstanding tradition, Saturday Pizza
Kitchen, run by parents.
“There’s always been a sense of community,” he said. “You knew you could go down and get pizza, and that was the thing you looked forward to on a Saturday.”
Through the years, the club has given members opportunities they might not otherwise have had. Rhodes noted that today, kids who have never been to a Broadway show have the chance to do that thanks to the club’s cultural programs.
“We transition them to the college prep program for high school,” she said. “We didn’t have that when I was a kid, but now it’s something we emphasize.”
For club members like Abraham D., involvement in the club is
deeply personal. “Grenville Baker has shaped me into a better
person,” Abraham wrote in a statement. (The club keeps its
members’ full names confidential.)
“It has guided me through challenges and shown me what I am capable of achieving. I wouldn’t be where I am today without this club.”
As the club celebrates its anniversary, its leadership has organized
numerous events throughout the year, including a clambake and
others that will hark back to activities it has hosted over its history.
The club’s leaders say that they want the celebration to help raise both money and awareness of the work it does, while also giving alumni a chance to reconnect with the memories that so many of them share.
“It was like a second home,” O’Donnell said. “I didn’t want to go home when my parents came to pick me up because I liked it so much.”
A special anniversary gala is scheduled for May 30, and will bring together alumni, supporters and current members to celebrate the club’s rich history and what they hope will be a promising future. For more information on Grenville Baker, the work it does and how to support it, visit GBBGC.org.
