WAYNESBORO – The evolution of the Fort Ritchie Community Center was the topic for last week’s Waynesboro Rotary Club peogram.
Rotarian Paul Gunder introduced the program’s speakers, Buck Browning, director of the center, and Brenda Walker, the center’s director of wellness.
Gander offered a brief look back at the history of Fort Ritchie as a military facility, which closed in 1998. Browning director since 2014, remarked that the center was “pretty much the only thing there” when he started. Development since then has included a tap house, coffee shop, grocery store and museum, he said.
The center, which is the only campus facility owned by Washington County, Maryland, includes two gyms and employs four full-time staffers. The annual budget of $700,000 is supported by memberships, fundraisers, donations and grants.
The center’s summer camp program will be starting soon. Walker said the center currently has 13 classes stressing exercise and wellness. In addition, she has 37 clients for personalized training sessions. Clients range in age from 13 to 92. “We’re more than just a gym,” she said, pointing to events such as a car show and fishing tournament held on the Fort Ritchie campus.
