Bob Young is Member in Spotlight   -Winter, 2005
As he entered his fifties, Mr. Bob Young was not feeling good about his physical self. Seventy-hour workweeks as chairman and CEO of Central Vermont Public Service were taking a toll.

A year and a half ago, at age 55, Bob talked with VS&F staff about how he might do better. This discussion led him to select a personal trainer (VS&F fitness director, Helen Strom-Olson) with whom he set written goals and developed a plan of attack. He also made sure to have a support team to help him get his exercise. He wanted to achieve the top ten percent of fitness for his age in a number of categories. He resolved to be steady and to make sure that his program had variety.

In November, a year after setting his goals, testing showed what we all could tell. Bob had achieved the top 10% in some categories and had improved in every category! Now he’s setting new goals for the next twelve months. About his success, he said “…I’ve reached the point where physical activity is an enjoyable part of my life. It’s relaxation from the stress of work.” Congratulations, Bob Young, for making these excellent life changes!
[Photo: Bob Young with fitness director, Helen Strom-Olsen]

Chuck Clarino is Member in Spotlight - Fall/Winter 2004-5
Charles J. (Chuck) Clarino, is an award-winning sports writer, columnist, author, and a member of VS&F since 1992. Chuck’s wife, Yvonne, also a writer, is a member of VS&F when she is in town. (She is a Professor of Journalism and Creative Writing at San Francisco State University.) Chuck and Yvonne have four grown children.

Chuck is 56 but appears younger and shows a youthful zest for life. When I asked about his goals, he said, “I want to write, travel and eat well, all over the world.” “Traveling is hard work,” he said, “my fitness makes it easy to travel and helps my writing.” He added, “I’m Italian, so I love to eat. If I didn’t work out I’d be as big as a house.” Chuck does mostly individual cardiovascular and flexibility exercise and takes an occasional Spinning class. “When you spend a lot of time writing,” he said, “it’s good to get a good sweat.”

Chuck travels frequently and says none of the clubs come close to ours. Thanks for saying that, Chuck, and thanks for being part of VS&F.
[Photo: Chuck Clarino in the VS&F weight room with staff member Elissa Dorsky]

Nanci, motivated by health and quality of life issues, uses VS&F exercise equipment on her own, but mainly takes classes, including Strength Training, Pilates, Yoga and Qigong. Nanci was never athletic, she said, and like a lot of our members, gym class (some years in her past) had been something of a trauma. But she has been comfortable at VS&F. “All shapes and sizes are here,” she said. “We have fun together and work hard. The instructors do so much to help. I wanted to really stress how much they help. I really enjoy the good will.” Nanci, congratulations. We are happy for your success, and appreciative of all you add to our positive environment.
(Nanci Gordon at Vermont Sport & Fitness Club)

-Fall 2003
[You can click on picture to enlarge]

When Dr. Johnson retired in 2000, Dr. Joyce Hottenstein joined the practice, bringing her own strong commitment to fitness. "We have a very healthy staff," said Dr. Hottenstein. "Prospective employees are surprised and grateful for our fitness program."

Lifelong Friends Share Member Spotlight

After college and medical school these two great friends returned to Rutland where Art became the city’s first full-time pediatrician and Bill the first specialist in internal medicine. During their long professional careers, recreation took a back seat to family and to working 70 hours a week. As Art said, “We worked our butt’s off!” Art and Bill started structured exercise five years ago when tennis became more difficult and they were
feeling a loss of strength and energy.
The exercise has made a big difference and VS&F has become an important part of their weekly routine. Since these two respected professionals have been advising Rutlanders for almost 50 years, I asked what exercise advice they might want to offer. “The old platitude,” said Art, “regular exercise and diet. It’s not that complicated.” “Just stay active,” Bill added. “The usual stuff. The thing is, you have to do it.” As we were finishing our interview,
Melissa Godfrey-Crossman, our fitness director stopped to say hello to Art and Bill. “Look!” she said. “My favorite people.” Club member, Sandy Cohen, also stopping to say hello, added, “Everybody’s favorite people!” Thanks, Art and Bill, for being such a wonderful part of Rutland’s history and a part of VS&F, too.

"we're not going to tell you our ages," said Winston Rose, when we asked Winston and his wife, Marcia if they would serve as our Spring, 2002, members in the spotlight. We agreed and interviewed the Roses on March 22 after their 11 a.m.  strength training class.

Marcia and Winston are retired grandparents who like to do things together. Marcia joined VS&F in May of 2000 and Winston followed a month later. Both had health conditions (Type 2 diabetes, back problems and asthma for Winston; bone density concerns and back problems for Marcia) for which regular exercise is strongly recommended. Marcia and Winston have both controlled these health issues and feel younger today than when they started. "We feel sharper and keener," said Marcia. "It's not just physical."

The Roses prefer group fitness activity. "It's awfully good to have a framework and an instructor," said Marcia. "We began planning our life around our strength training class, three times a week." Recently both have begun a second class, the VS&F Heart Health Cardio Training Program, which is working to strengthen their hearts, lungs and circulatory systems.

"It Pleases our children that we are doing this," Winston said. "When I walk up that pathway I thin, 'this is a health place for me to be.'" "It's a healing place, " Marcia added.

Well ... congratulations to you both on your fine accomplishment and thanks for being a important part of VS&F. Thanks also for your willingness to serve as a model for other seniors who want to change their lives.

Member Spotlight Falls on Larry Reed  - Fall/Winter 2000-2001
Larry Reed was the third person to join VS&F when we opened on October 10, 1992, and he is our longest running, continuously active member. He began by playing racquetball but soon turned to an individualized exercise program. Currently he uses our Cybex strength training circuit as well as treadmills, and stationary cycles. He also shoots a few baskets and he expects to enjoy the new steam room which should be completed around the time this newsletter comes out.

At age 44, Larry juggles a stressful profession and two active children with his need for regular exercise. In 1997, he struggled with a far greater challenge when he learned he would need a kidney transplant. Amazingly, he missed only six weeks of exercise and recovered quickly to his active lifestyle. He attributes his fast recovery to his habit of regular exercise. Larry now exercises at VS&F two to three times a week and describes it as "...a way to replenish myself ... and to think more clearly ... I feel better about everything when I exercise."

Thanks, Larry, for letting us put you in the spotlight. Here's hoping you'll have many more enjoyable and successful years at VS&F, and a lifetime of health and fitness.
[Photo: Larry Reed]

Sport and exercise are an important part of al the Foley's lives, including wife, Lorilee and four children: Lily, age 19 (now away at college), Brooks, age 17, Greg, age 15, and Evan, age 12.

As with every family, all has not been easy for the Foleys. They were especially challenged in the summer of 1999, when Evan broke his neck during a swim meet diving accident. Evan was only millimeters from paralysis but has made an exceptional recovery. He is restricted only from contact sports but otherwise returned to full activity.

Every member of the Foley family is very much an individual, with differing interests and activities. Both Dan and Lorilee enjoy the fact that various family members can be at the club together but each doing their own thing. And all family members let variety spice their activity, participating in everything from tennis to weight-lifting to fitness classes. as Lorilee puts it, "the club gives all of us a chance to do things for our individual health, to improve ourselves and to have some fun."

Lorilee gets much of the credit for her family's commitment to healthy activity. She got Dan started with a gift of personal training sessions eight years ago, at a time when he was physically inactive. Dan and all the family have become more and more involved in sport and fitness as the years have passed.

It is important to note that physical activity is not everything to the Foleys. They make sure that sport and fitness is balanced with plenty of expression of the spiritual and intellectual sides of life as well.

Thanks to Dan and Lorilee for giving us a glimpse of how VS&F has played a small part in balancing their lives and helping them raise three teenagers and a teenager-soon-to-be.
[Photo: Evan, Brooks, Greag, Lorilee, Dan and Lily Foley this past summer.]

Healthy exercise, friendship and variety have kept three generations of Lourases active and happy at VS&F. "If people cant find what they are looking for here, I don't know where they will," says Ruth, the family matriarch and, at age 67, the most physically active family member. Ruth was an avid and skilled tennis player until 1999, when back problems forced her to retire. She has stayed active, however, and credits the VS&F strength training class with keeping her back strong and healthy for a wide variety of other activities. Ruth also enjoys CardioPump, a treadmill walking call, and during the winter she can sometimes be seen playing cards in the lobby with her exercise friends.

Ruth's son, Nico, and daughter-in-law, Julie, spend their limited time playing racquet sports. Nico plays a mean game of racquetball, while Julie is following Ruth's footsteps as a tennis player. Julie is part of our 3.0 women's team than just returned from the Northern New England regional championships, having finished second in a field of 14 top teams.

Samantha, or "Sam", age 19, represents the third generation of this close and active family. As a high school student, Sam played tennis, ran cross-country, and played on the boy's hockey team. Now as a college student, she concentrates on her studies and her fitness. At VS&F she lifts weights, takes various fitness classes and uses our cardiovascular equipment. "The classes give me motivation," she says. Sam added, "It's the little things that count, like all the music channels in the cardio room."

Togetherness is nothing new for the Louras family. About eight Lourases work together in the family business, Sam Frank, Inc., a wholesale distributing company serving southern Vermont since 1872.

Thanks, Ruth, Julie, Nico and Sam, for your support of VS&F, and for serving as our FAMILY IN THE SPOTLIGHT.