# Do you know what the Gra-Y (or Gray-Y) was? Were you a member? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 21, 2011, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-the-gra-y-or-gray-y-was-were-you-a-member/589860 "2011-07-21T15:56:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Giggle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4af34b/32.png) [@Giggle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giggle)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-the-gra-y-or-gray-y-was-were-you-a-member/589860/21 "2017-01-25T07:30:53Z")
We lived in southern California. It was in the late 1960s, possibly early 1970s. Gray Y was a youth club, part of the YMCA, hence the “Y” part of the name. Kind of like the Indian Guides, which we also belonged to, or the Cub Scouts, which we also did. We did stuff, like held pinewood derbies (those little wooden cars you carve yourself and race down a track), we went to the mountains once a year to play in the snow, we sold stuff at fund raisers (I always hated doing fund raisers, and I think this was where I exited, stage left). We had t-shirts. We had a football team, and I think a basketball team. ---
**Author:** ![Giggle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4af34b/32.png) [@Giggle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giggle)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-the-gra-y-or-gray-y-was-were-you-a-member/589860/22 "2017-01-25T07:41:31Z")
> [@](#): > > So if it was part of the YMCA, that explains the capital Y in the name. And if you lived in Genesee County, I’ll bet that was the capital G in the name. LOL! You got the first part right. The second part, no. The guy who said it had to do with meeting on Saturdays and doing athletics was more right than anybody else. Since me and my brothers were part of it when we lived in California, Los Angeles County, it certainly had nothing to do with “Genesee, NY”. But we did other things besides sports. It was a general plan something to do next week, let’s do it. Even though we met at the group leader’s home, usually, when we did do sports like football and basketball, we used YMCA facilities. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-the-gra-y-or-gray-y-was-were-you-a-member/589860/23 "2017-01-25T14:58:22Z")
Our local “Y” had a group for older kids called Hi-Y. Kind of a “Scouts Lite”; instead of hiking into the wilderness with everything on your back, the Hi-Y kids took a bus to a cabin with a kitchen. ---
**Author:** ![Giggle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4af34b/32.png) [@Giggle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giggle)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-the-gra-y-or-gray-y-was-were-you-a-member/589860/24 "2017-01-25T15:04:27Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Our local “Y” had a group for older kids called Hi-Y. > > Kind of a “Scouts Lite”; instead of hiking into the wilderness with everything on your back, the Hi-Y kids took a bus to a cabin with a kitchen. Guess that’s one I haven’t heard of. I must have lived on the wrong side of the tracks 🙂 I remember one incident, and I honestly don’t remember if it was in Gray Y, cub scouts, or Indian Guides, but the group purchased many bundles of deer hides, and we had them tanned, and then we bought quite a lot of finished leather for use in projects. But it was at night, and there were these bundles of deer hides, complete with hair, oozing fat, and blood. This one kid was very upset when he learned he was looking at dead deer, and he was crying. I’m not mocking him at all, just one of those anecdotes from life, observing the differences in people and all. I suppose he would have done well in Hi-Y. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-the-gra-y-or-gray-y-was-were-you-a-member/589860/25 "2017-01-25T15:44:49Z")
I notice that my post from several years ago didn’t make this clear, but the Gray-Y (or Gra-Y) program was part of the local YMCA, and was held in the YMCA building. I kinda miss it. I got to swim, work out, make craft projects, and see a movie. The film quality ranged from abysmally bad (like **Giant from the Unknown** [Giant from the Unknown - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_from_the_Unknown) ) to pretty decent ( **Seventh Voyage of Sinbad** , which wasn’t all that old a film at the time) ---
**Author:** ![Giggle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4af34b/32.png) [@Giggle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giggle)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-the-gra-y-or-gray-y-was-were-you-a-member/589860/26 "2017-01-25T15:52:10Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I notice that my post from several years ago didn’t make this clear, but the Gray-Y (or Gra-Y) program was part of the local YMCA, and was held in the YMCA building. > I kinda miss it. I got to swim, work out, make craft projects, and see a movie. The film quality ranged from abysmally bad (like **Giant from the Unknown** [Giant from the Unknown - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_from_the_Unknown) ) to pretty decent ( **Seventh Voyage of Sinbad** , which wasn’t all that old a film at the time) Yes, well because I was searching for Gray-Y, because it was such an obscure piece of ephemera of my past, and I found this thread, I knew it was a program under the auspices of the YMCA, and our events were generally held at our local YMCA. The basketball games, the football games, and the pinewood derbies were all held at the local Y. I think we had green t-shirts. I don’t remember what was written on them. Anybody who was a member of the Gray-Y would already have known it was something the YMCA did, so they might not even mention it because if you were in it, you already knew it was YMCA, and it might not occur to you to have to spell it out. Thanks for the thread, I can’t believe I got up at 3 in the morning to search for this long lost memory. We lived in Artesia, California, and our club leader lived in Norwalk, California, and our YMCA was in Bellflower, California. All cities close by each other. ---
**Author:** ![Giggle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4af34b/32.png) [@Giggle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giggle)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-the-gra-y-or-gray-y-was-were-you-a-member/589860/27 "2017-01-25T15:58:50Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I notice that my post from several years ago didn’t make this clear, but the Gray-Y (or Gra-Y) program was part of the local YMCA, and was held in the YMCA building. > I kinda miss it. I got to swim, work out, make craft projects, and see a movie. The film quality ranged from abysmally bad (like **Giant from the Unknown** [Giant from the Unknown - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_from_the_Unknown) ) to pretty decent ( **Seventh Voyage of Sinbad** , which wasn’t all that old a film at the time) B.T.W., Seventh Voyage of Sinbad was one of my favorites as a kid. I remember Dad and Mom taking us to see it, possibly my earliest ever outdoor drive in movie memory. I wouldn’t remember more than about two scenes from that movie if it hadn’t been for me buying the complete Ray Harryhausen collection as an adult. ---
**Author:** ![BobArrgh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobarrgh/32/2881_2.png) [@BobArrgh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobArrgh)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2017, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-the-gra-y-or-gray-y-was-were-you-a-member/589860/28 "2017-01-26T18:17:54Z")
I always thought that Gra-Y was personal lubrication popular among aging Boomers. ---
**Author:** ![Giggle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4af34b/32.png) [@Giggle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giggle)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2017, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-the-gra-y-or-gray-y-was-were-you-a-member/589860/29 "2017-01-26T18:27:01Z")
> [@BobArrgh](#): > > I always thought that Gra-Y was personal lubrication popular among aging Boomers. :smack: LOL! ---
**Author:** ![Whiskey\_Dickens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9fc348/32.png) [@Whiskey\_Dickens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whiskey_Dickens)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2017, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-the-gra-y-or-gray-y-was-were-you-a-member/589860/30 "2017-01-26T19:56:19Z")
> [@armedmonkey](#): > > GRA-Y was a now defunct organization from the 80’s to early 2000’s working for “Peace through applied confidentiality” which was a fancy way of saying “There are some things the public shouldn’t know” Their M.O. was to operate under their own ethics and morality which did not necessarily coincide with U.S. law. They worked in the “gray” areas, if you will. I first became aware of the group in 1995 when one of their operations to reproduce Ronald Reagan inside a computer system resulted in the creation of the Microsoft Office Assistant, A paperclip shaped monstrosity that would be unleashed upon an unsuspecting world two years later. In 2000, they were able to install Robert Patrick as a replacement of David Duchovny on _The X-Files_ in a largely successful attempt to forestall investigation into alien visitation. > > The tide turned in 2002 when my operatives were able to turn their cybernetic pleasure bot codenamed J-NA J-MSN against them and destroy their headquarters in Los Toromierda, NM. Censored video documentation of some of the incidents regarding GRA-Y may be found [here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yJgwwDcgV8). I read an embarrassing amount of this before I realized it was satire. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2017, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-the-gra-y-or-gray-y-was-were-you-a-member/589860/31 "2017-01-26T20:00:35Z")
> [@armedmonkey](#): > > The tide turned in 2002 when my operatives were able to turn their cybernetic pleasure bot codenamed J-NA J-MSN against them and destroy their headquarters in Los Toromierda, NM. You named a pleasure bot Jonah Jameson? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![steppedonafrog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c57346/32.png) [@steppedonafrog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steppedonafrog)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2019, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-the-gra-y-or-gray-y-was-were-you-a-member/589860/32 "2019-05-27T17:45:49Z")
I was a member of the Gra-Y in Atlanta,Ga in the 60’s. It was somewhat of a subsidiary of the YMCA. Our elementary school Oak Grove was affiliated as such with the YMCA in that we had a sports team for grades 4 & 5 (if I remember correctly) and 6 & 7. There was no “middle school” in Atlanta during those WONDERFUL TIMES YYYEAH BUDDY!!! We played football, basketball and soccer. No cleats during football…just tennis shoes (what all “sneakers” were called back then). Pop Warner football wore cleats…not the Gra-Y. As an extra added attraction when we were in the 7th grade (1967) our coach H. Broughton made arrangements for us to play in Savannah, Ga. against the local teams down there. We rode the train Nancy Hanks. This was an event to behold above most others. Too bad it has been lost to history. Unbelievably so I have no photos of any of the trip. Our team won our game(s)? but it was the trip itself I recall more than the game. Please excuse any and all grammatical errors. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2019, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-the-gra-y-or-gray-y-was-were-you-a-member/589860/33 "2019-05-27T18:12:14Z")
Welcome to the Dope, steppedonafrog…and thanks for the helpful contribution to this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2019, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-the-gra-y-or-gray-y-was-were-you-a-member/589860/34 "2019-05-27T18:14:53Z")
> [@steppedonafrog](#): > > No cleats during football…just tennis shoes (what all “sneakers” were called back then). Well, that’s a\* little \*good news for the frog. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2019, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-the-gra-y-or-gray-y-was-were-you-a-member/589860/35 "2019-05-27T18:42:51Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > You named a pleasure bot Jonah Jameson? 🙂 Ninja’d by only 2 1/2 years! ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2019, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-the-gra-y-or-gray-y-was-were-you-a-member/589860/36 "2019-05-27T20:15:57Z")
Mentioned at the YMCA’s site, under their [History 1870-1890s](https://www.ymca.net/history/1870-1890s.html) section: > [@](#): > > Designed to promote Christian character through fostering speech, sportsmanship and scholastic achievement, the Chapman, Kansas YMCA developed the Hi-Y club for highschool boys in 1889. The service clubs ultimately became the “four fronts” program—Hi-Y, Jr. Hi-Y, Tri Hi-Y and Gra-Y—and served youth of all ages. Never heard of any of the subgroups until this thread. They certainly had a naming paradigm they liked. Reading it reminded me of playing the Paranoia RPG. “Hi-Y!” “Take Gra-Y and find those mutants in Gamma Sector!” What was Gra-Y for anyway? The elderly? **Gra** de school YMCA members? ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2019, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-the-gra-y-or-gray-y-was-were-you-a-member/589860/37 "2019-05-28T18:24:21Z")
> [@Gray\_Ghost](#): > > What was Gra-Y for anyway? The elderly? Since it was for the older kids at my YMCA, that was what we younger guys claimed. ---
**Author:** ![ramyah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e99b99/32.png) [@ramyah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ramyah)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-the-gra-y-or-gray-y-was-were-you-a-member/589860/38 "2026-01-14T19:13:23Z")
There was a Chapter in Jacksonville, Florida to-which I was a member. ---
**Author:** ![ramyah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e99b99/32.png) [@ramyah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ramyah)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-the-gra-y-or-gray-y-was-were-you-a-member/589860/39 "2026-01-14T19:19:04Z")
I was in the Gray-Y in Jacksonville Florida in the 1960’s. We performed on stage before a huge audience. We tap dance to “Down in front of Casey. It is a shame our people were not big on keeping our history. I asked the YMCO. They know nothing about it. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-the-gra-y-or-gray-y-was-were-you-a-member/589860/40 "2026-01-14T19:21:04Z")
I’m afraid the poster you are addressing posted once back in 2019 and never came back. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-the-gra-y-or-gray-y-was-were-you-a-member/589860.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-the-gra-y-or-gray-y-was-were-you-a-member/589860.md?page=3)