GOOD MORNING – says Lisa Hatchell as she greets early morning Y people as they arrive at 4:30

Lisa Hatchell has been opening the Hartsville YMCA her entire career. She starts work at 4 a.m. and opens the doors at 4:30.

Monday through Friday at 4:30 in the morning the doors to the Hartsville YMCA are unlocked to start a new day of fitness and much more. Since January 6, 1996 Lisa Hatchell has been turning that key and welcoming early exercisers with upbeat, cheery GOOD MORNINGS to give a boost to the day. For Lisa, who started the job at 25, it is the first job and only job she has had. As she engages with members, fellow employees and guests it is quickly apparent she is a master at this early morning gig. “Lisa is the absolute best.” That statement is quoted without attribution because in the short time the interview was happening it was echoed by at least five members who heard parts of the conversation.

“I love the members and that is why I am still here. I get to know them and sometimes they tell me that I know more about their families and what is happening than anyone.” Almost as proof of that statement a member walked by noting having to have missed a meeting and before the reason came out Lisa was asking after the health of the family member. The early morning group at the Y has many members who have been opening the door between four thirty and ten for lots of years and Lisa has made a lasting impression on them with her cheerfulness, her dedication (she does not miss), her caring, her connections. She knows the birthdays of most of the regulars and she even has some of their cell numbers. “Sometimes if a person misses I give them a call to see if things are okay or if they need something.” And, then a member passes by on the way out. Lisa’s parting comment is “I am glad you were able to get some sleep last night.” That person is a caregiver whose nights are frequently interrupted. In just a short time scenes and comments like that repeated themselves again and again.

“I try to speak to every person who comes in the Y door. Early in the morning it is my chance to help them get a positive start to the day,” she notes. And, Lisa, is a morning person who just wakes up (at 3 a.m each day) ready to go. “I don’t need caffeine.” In fact, Lisa has not had a cup of coffee in her life, despite the fact that she has coffee ready in the lobby every morning.

Lisa does note that her energy and excitement are pretty constant. She sometimes thinks her husband Velvete Hatchell, who works at Sonoco, and their daughter Courtney, a nurse and Nurse Practitioner student at FMU, might wish for a little more calm. Maybe they get that around eight or nine in the evening when Lisa goes to bed to get ready for her 3 a.m. day break.

Brenda, a long-time Y member and early morning exerciser, is first at the door just about every morning, says Lisa, though occasionally a guest staying at one of the downtown motels might be first for the Lisa “Good Morning.”

The Lobby Desk is a busy place at several different times of the day and the job is one of complete customer service from the welcome to the schedule questions, to the membership answers, to the various other problems needing to be addressed. “My early morning crowd is just a great deal like family and I just really enjoy my job and these members,” says Lisa. Again and again as people head out to their day, you can see many feel the same way; especially as they wave back as Lisa calls, “See you in the morning.”