ywca in the news

Townie Tuesday: Ilene Harnch Grady

Ilene-Harnch Grady,  Clipper City’s Fitness Maven
By Kathleen Downey

Ilene-Harnch Grady has townie in her bloodline. Her father, an 18-year city councilor (14 of those years as city council president) even has a throughway named after him, “Harnch’s Way” that crosses in front of Famous Pizza. And he was also the Harold who owned and operated Mr. Harold’s Beauty Shop, where The Pizza Factory is now located.

Following her father’s example for civic duty, Grady served a term as city councilor in the mid 1990s. Reflecting on that position, Grady says, “I loved it immensely. The best thing about being a city councilor was that I was able to work closely with my constituents and help the citizens of my community.”

Today, Grady is Director of Health and Wellness at the YWCA where she oversees the fitness programs. She describes the position as her “dream job,” in that she can meld her expertise in marketing and communications with her love and natural verve for physical fitness. “I feel so fortunate,” says Grady.

A fitness instructor since 1982, Grady not only oversees the various classes that the YWCA offers—including spin, step, strength-training, Zumba, and also aqua yoga in the facility’s warm water pool—she also teaches many of the classes. Grady says, “I feel that I am first and foremost a teacher. I love working with people and seeing the elation on their faces when they begin to realize that they can achieve their fitness goals.”

The communal atmosphere of the YWCA, Grady tells me, is not unlike the city of Newburyport herself, a similarity that resonates with her in a familiar, comforting way. “Newburyport is such a cohesive community,” she says. “The caring relationships amongst the people who live here are special.” Grady says that many of her neighbors from when she was a young girl growing up on Ferry Road remain her closest friends.

She recalls for me memories of her youth—horseback riding in Maudsley State Park, days spent on the beach at Plum Island, and playing with friends at the Atkinson Common. The locations that hold her idyllic memories continue to instill within Grady today a joy for the natural beauty that each offers. “I feel blessed to live in such a beautiful area,” she says. Grady then states affirmatively, “I’ve never aspired to live anywhere other than Newburyport.”

Grady admits to missing those Newburyport shops, now gone, that have left their imprint on the downtown’s bricked sidewalks, shops like State Street Candle and Mug. “It’s sad that these stores are not here anymore,” she says. “But I also have an appreciation for the evolution of our city. I witnessed the revival of the downtown, so as much as I love to reminisce about the old, I recognize that there can be a lot of good in the new, too.” Grady gives the Clipper City Rail Trail as an example of something that is stunning and new. However, Grady quickly adds that she is grateful that landmarks like Fowle’s and Taffy’s remain part of Newburyport’s downtown landscape. She cites Angie’s as a wonderful spot for good townie conversation with the home fries that the eatery serves.

Married to a townie, Grady lives with her deep-sea fisherman husband Thomas and eight-year-old daughter Ava in a neighborhood not far from where Grady grew up. Of Ava, Grady says, “She’s just dynamite!” At her daughter’s soccer games, Grady is Ava’s biggest fan.

There is another title, besides townie, that Grady says she wears proudly. “I’m the crazy dog lady,” she laughs. Honey and Toby are her two adored dachshunds who are very much part of Grady’s family. “I bring them with me everywhere,” she says. I neglected to ask if Honey and Toby are native Newburyporters, or if they are townies-by-proxy through Grady’s bloodline. Of greater importance to the pooches, no doubt, is that they are where they belong . . . just like the townie who loves them. “Newburyport is home,” Grady says, putting the period on our interview.

Posted on Newburyport-Today.com Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010 at 9:00 am

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