Jefferson County’s Leisure Center has gone through a number of changes making it a better place offering more opportunities to the senior citizens of Jefferson County. One new change that adds not only an additional aesthetic appeal but also a practical one is updating the fitness room.
One of the best ways to reduce the negative aspects associated with aging and improve preventative health concerns is following a good exercise and wellness plan.
“We have done a lot of work on the outside and the inside of the leisure center and it’s an effort that the whole county can be proud of, but for the seniors that come here and utilize the center, they love it. The one thing many of the seniors wanted was to update the equipment in our fitness room,” said Jefferson County Leisure Center Director Tammy Bennett.
Technology has changed the way we exercise the way the smartphone has changed communications. The pedometer was replaced by the Fitbit and shows how new fitness equipment can provide more effective exercise opportunities to a larger group.
“When we started to tackle the project of updating the equipment we found that some of the treadmills were really out of date. The new equipment was much more user friendly than the older equipment had been,” Bennett said.
One of the hallmarks of local government stresses providing constituents the best service possible while remaining good financial stewards of taxpayer dollars. Bennett began scouring organizations looking for grants and funding mechanisms that would help modernize the fitness room. Then she suddenly got a call from Wrens City Manager Arty Thrift about a grant that the city of Wrens received from American Association of Retired Persons (AARP).
Thrift originally was going to use the AARP to create more opportunities that focused on seniors in Wrens because of the specifics of the grant and knowing what Bennet was trying to do, the AARP grant could be used to help add equipment to the fitness center.
“Mr. Arty had called me about the AARP grant and he said that this grant would really help us and fit what we were trying to do. Then we were able to really start looking at what do our seniors need and want to really help them exercise and practice wellness,” Bennet said.
Bennet said we started to get some new treadmills, exercise bicycles and some dumb bells. The county also put in some speakers and a new TV.
“Right now we have three different classes we offer and usually have about 8-9 people per class. Caleb Moore, son of Mayor of Wadley Harold Moore plays college basketball and has to maintain his exercise routine in the summers is our instructor. It’s great to have a young guy with a lot of energy encouraging our seniors to keep exercising and remain active,” Bennett said.
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