Honoring Our Community Legacy: The Raymond E. Santmyers Youth Center

I was pleasantly surprised when I saw that Reaching Out Now was interested in operating the Raymond E. Santmyers Youth Center to provide much-needed youth activities for our community’s young people. I did become somewhat concerned when I became aware that the organization was considering changing the name of the center.

I would like to provide a little history of how the Youth Center came into existence.

In the mid-1960s, the Front Royal Youth Center operated out of the building in Chimney Field. My father was the director, and the Center became very popular with the area’s youth. Dances were held with live bands, and they were well attended, so much so that people were turned away due to occupancy restrictions. Feeling the youth needed to be better served, my father approached the town with the idea of constructing a better facility.

This was the beginning of the Youth Center that now stands on the corner of 8th St. and Commerce Avenue. The community came together, and many people donated their time, skills, and money to make the project a reality. Masons, electricians, carpenters, and surveyors worked without pay to bring the Center to fruition. The new location provided the youth with more space for many activities. There were game rooms, a TV room, and a large room for dances. The youth took an active role in the operation of the Center. Elections were held, and a youth board of directors was chosen. They made operation and financial decisions under the guidance of the director.

Raymond Santmyers passed away in May of 1976. I will paraphrase an editorial published in the Warren Sentinel. It was titled A PERSON REMEMBERED. After noting his involvement in the community at large, it states, “Yet above all, he will be remembered most for his 11 years as director of the Front Royal Youth Center. There are few, if any, adults who would have spent countless nights and days for so many years at the Youth Center with a whole range of young people. Here, his unfailing good humor, good sense, and fairness won the respect and affection of young people.”

Now, I will give my input as to why I believe the name of the youth center should remain the Raymond E. Santmyers Youth Center. The community has a history of honoring people by naming buildings after them. In my youth, I attended Front Royal Elementary School on Crescent Street. E. Wilson Morrison was the principal, and I remember him as a caring man who had the best interest of his students as his major concern. When the school was renamed for him, I thought it was a fitting memorial to a dedicated educator. I taught school in the Warren County School system for six years. During that time, I had the pleasure of working with Hilda J. Barbour. She dedicated her life to educating the students of the county, and I thought it fitting that a school bears her name. I believe that people who have made a positive impact on their community should be honored for their contributions and remembered. For these reasons, I believe the name of Raymond E. Santmyers should not be changed.

Ronald Santmyers
Front Royal, VA

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