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“We were looking for someone who had professional experience outside of one arena,” said Roland Carito, director of operations at the Saugerties club, who made the decision to hire Lydia and to whom she reports.

“Lydia has a patience to her which came across well, plus she has a real desire to make a difference,” he said. “We’re not working with widgets here!” exclaimed the Columbia County native, who’s been with the Saugerties Club for four years. Prior to that, Carito worked at a club in Pittsburgh. Carito’s been working for The Boys & Girls Club of America organization for almost a decade. His goal is to become an executive director within the group, which would be “the next logical step,” he said.

According to Carito, Lydia’s array of skills and her professional demeanor are especially valuable to the Saugerties club, which unlike many other locales, has roughly as many female members as males. Dues are $10 a year for everyone. In addition to observing certain on-premises rules, for example, a zero-tolerance policy on drugs, the club members help maintain the premises.

This summer, the Saugerties club had more elementary-school age girls attending than in previous years. Some came from as far away as Catskill.

While other people teach art and healthy cooking, Lydia’s now leading “Power Hour,” a broad-based educational program that begins at 3:30 p.m. and in which gym games are made into active educational experiences.

Lydia learned in Micronesia that lectures can turn kids off.

“In teaching, I try to be creative and come up with out-of-the-box” ways to teach basic language and math skills, sometimes using board games such as Scrabble, she said.