YANA History
The history and evolution of the YANA Foundation
In 1976 doors to the “Under the Bridge Club” in downtown Fort Myers at the entrance to the Caloosahatchee Bridge closed forever. A small group of displaced members found a place to meet in North Fort Myers and founded the Dry Palms Club. A second group looking for a facility which might serve as a meeting place, discovered a building which once housed a small church-complete with a baptismal pool.
The building was abandoned and dilapidated and described as “a shameful rat hole” by one of the founding members. Nevertheless, a deal was struck with the building owner, Mr. Alan Baum, who agreed to six months of free rent in exchange for labor and materials to make the place look presentable. All work, spearheaded by Jay Carroll and Charlie Wilson was done on a volunteer basis. Renovation of the building took many long hot summer days and nights.
The building was abandoned and dilapidated and described as “a shameful rat hole” by one of the founding members. Nevertheless, a deal was struck with the building owner, Mr. Alan Baum, who agreed to six months of free rent in exchange for labor and materials to make the place look presentable. All work, spearheaded by Jay Carroll and Charlie Wilson was done on a volunteer basis. Renovation of the building took many long hot summer days and nights.
