McCarthy will retire in August, after a relationship that began when he was 6 years old and the Boys Club was still on Chestnut Street.
Garrett ("Gary") McCarthy has announced that he will retire after 25 years as CEO of the Springfield Boys and Girls Club. He joined the club as a child, and began working there 50 years ago as a teen-ager.
ÂSPRINGFIELD – Amid the cacophony that is today’s youth culture, Garrett (“Gary”) J. McCarthy is a man who still talks about developing character, showing respect, being a good citizen.
McCarthy is the CEO of the Boys and Girls Club in Springfield. He has announced that he will retire in August, after a relationship that began when he was 6 years old and the Boys Club was still on Chestnut Street.
When he talks about the mission of the club, it’s not just talk, says his friend Timothy Gallagher. “He never wavered,” said Gallagher, who is chairman of the board of the Boys Club. “He set a fantastic example of being consistent about bringing those values to the kids.”
The two men have been friends since 1965, when Gallagher was a little kid at the club and McCarthy was a teen-age counselor-in-training.
McCarthy said he was always getting jobs there as a youth. He ran the snack shop, supervised little kids in the game room, showed movies, taught swimming, and worked his way up.
He headed the Westfield Boys Club for six years, but other than that it’s always been Springfield.
McCarthy was one of four children born into a blue-collar family in the Irish neighborhood of Hungry Hill. His brother Robert also became a Boys Club official.
Their dad worked at the Moore Drop Forging Co. The family attended the former Our Lady of Hope Church, built in 1925 by Irish immigrants.
“My parents appreciated the Boys Club because it offered sports and good role models,” said McCarthy. “It reinforced what the family and the church taught about being a gentleman, having integrity and good citizenship.”
The Boys Club promoted diversity before the word became common. Girls were admitted when the club moved to Carew Street in 1967, long before the national organization changed its name to Boys and Girls Clubs in 1990.
In the days when integration was an issue, many black children were members. In fact, said McCarthy, the club was more integrated than the public schools. “I met new and interesting people from all walks of life,” he said.
McCarthy earned his degree in social work at American International College in Springfield. He met his wife, Eileen, when she taught economics at the club. Now first-time grandparents, the couple recently moved to Ludlow.
They have two daughters, pursuing careers at Dow Jones in Manhattan and Shriners Hospital in Springfield.
The first Boys Club was founded in Hartford in 1860, probably as an effort to help street urchins who were “raising Cain” as their fathers worked long hours in the factories. It became a national movement in 1906.
The direction of the club used to be vocational. Now it’s more recreational. “Education is critical,” said McCarthy, “but a youngster has got to have fun, make friends, enjoy life.”
The club still teaches kids to behave like ladies and gentlemen. “We did our level best to have people understand that,” said McCarthy. “We’ve stood our ground, and we’re pretty proud of that.”
At the Springfield Boys and Girls Club, McCarthy heads a staff of 10 full-time people and 45 to 50 part-time. The club serves about 1,500 children a year.
McCarthy said he is proud that the club has upheld its mission to provide a place free of barriers, where children can drop in when they need to.
He is inspired by the business leaders and others who have donated time and money.
“I hope the children understand that there is a real community of folks out there who love them and want them to have a wonderful life,” he said.