THOMASVILLE — Fun and other goods things are bargains at Thomasville YMCA.

For $55 a month, a married couple or family is entitled to participate in many activities. The cost for an individual is $44 monthly.

Senior citizens, age 62 and above, may indulge in YMCA activities for $38 a month, while the cost for a senior married couple, 62 and older, is $47.

Membership ensures accessibility to a host of activities: pools, aerobics, workout equipment, basketball and game room, among others.

Greer Cox, Butler-Mason YMCA branch director, said people can work out while visiting with old friends and making new ones.

Whether it’s on a treadmill, in a pool or playing racquetball, people get to know each other and have fun together.

“Maybe it’s just sitting down drinking coffee. It’s a wonderful atmosphere,” Cox explained.

Families can swim together. Children can work out in one area, while their parents work out elsewhere at the Everett-Milton Center at Dawson and East Jackson streets.

A nursery is available for parents with young children.

“No matter what age you are, you can be as active as you want to be,” Cox said.

Senior citizens work out and socialize. Stroke victims undergo physical therapy and remain afterward to socialize with others.

The YMCA child program serves 400 children with a focus on healthy development of youngsters and core values upheld by the YMCA.

A YMCA was the topic of a May 1903, meeting at First Presbyterian Church in Thomasville. The Thomasville YMCA was officially organized 10 days later.

The first “Y” building opened at Dawson and East Jackson in October 1904.

In 1945, the Francis F. Weston Center was established on Clay Street.

The Butler-Mason branch was completed in January 2002.

For more than a century, Thomasville YMCA has been building strong children, strong families and a strong community.

“Ys” teach character, promote healthy living, support the pursuit of positive life skills and inspire the acceptance of responsibility.

Thomasville YMCA encourages volunteers. The organization was founded on volunteerism, and more than 400 volunteers donate time to the organization. Volunteer activities include fund-raising, teaching and coaching.

In 2008, the YMCA subsidized more than $160,000 for scholarships and services to the community.

Cox said a pilot program at the Butler-Mason branch, off Remington Avenue, is for obese children. “We’re collaborating with local physicians,” Cox said.

An activity this summer will be a fitness camp for children who want to have fun exercising.

“We try to interest them in activities where they don’t know they’re exercising. They’re just having fun,” Cox said.