IN THE RESORT POOL, TIMES THREE

“The healthiest thing you can do”

By Dale Dauten

“The water is your friend. You don’t have to fight with water,

 just share the same spirit as the water and it will help you move.”

Alexander Popov

The seasons come and go, as do the events, but there are a few constants at The Resort and one of them has been around as long as anyone can remember: Water Aerobics. We learned a bit of its history from Jody Hardin, who teaches one of the current sessions: “I’ve only taught for the last five years. It was Pat Miser who taught for… I don’t know how long, something like 30 years. When she hit her 90^th birthday, she decided to go down to two days a week.” Pat eventually gave up her annual visits to The Resort and Jody tells us that Pat just celebrated her 96^th birthday at her home in Washington state.

THE 7 O’CLOCK

“When Pat taught the seven o’clock class,” Jody added, “they called themselves the Polar Bears. People still ask, ‘Isn’t it cold?’ and I tell them that it’s cold getting in and getting out, but in the water it’s fine.” (The Resort’s pool is heated during the winter season.) Jody has always preferred the early start, but understands that not everyone wants to jump in the pool first thing in the morning. “Some people want to get up and have breakfast and then come to the pool.”

As for what goes on in the water, she described her typical class: “We start with some stretching, ten minutes at most, then we do whole-body exercises for the next 10-20 minutes, then 15-20 minutes on the wall, which is more leg oriented, and then 15 minutes using water barbells, for those who have them, which adds some resistance and some float.” That takes up the hour and then they turn the pool over to the next class, at eight. And it’s the one that will carry on throughout the summer.

Meanwhile, later this month Jody will be heading back to her home near Davenport, Washington. (She and her husband, Mike, still live on the wheat and barley farm that’s been in the family for four generations, but now they lease out the land to others.)

Jody will be looking forward to returning to The Resort in the fall: “We have a wonderful core group of people who come to the pool. They’re my winter friends and I know they’ll be at the class.”

THE 8 O’CLOCK

Deb Jenkins was a regular in the nine o’clock water aerobics class until she took a part-time job a few years back. When that job happened, the only other class was the Polar Bears at seven. Feeling that time was just too early, and with the new job making the nine-o’clock too late, she decided she would simply go to the pool between the two classes, around eight, to exercise alone. Even though there wasn’t a class, she fell into the familiar routines she’d been doing for a couple of decades. Eventually, once she’d started working out alone, someone asked to join in, then someone else, and a new class had begun without ever having been officially started.

“The nice thing about the routines,” Deb explained, “is that you work at your own pace, you work as hard as you want.” She added, “The time dominates on which class people choose.”

Deb is a year-round resident, or nearly so – she has extended stays with her son in Gillette, Wyoming – and will help keep the class going over the park’s off-season.

THE 9 O’CLOCK

The instructor at nine, Hertha Squire, was pleased when the eight o’clock class took shape: “We sometimes would have 45 or more in the class and that was almost too many. When the eight o’clock started, that helped a lot.”

Asked what she emphasizes in her class, Hertha said, “I want to stretch my joints. I don’t want to jerk. We start with our fingers and go through every joint.” She added, “It’s the healthiest thing you can do.”

She being doing it for 19 years, and leading a class for the last ten. How’d she end up leading a class? “The leader before me got sick and I happened to remember the whole thing. I can do them without looking at the chart.”

Hertha and her husband, Paul, split their time with their home in Onalaska, Wisconsin, and they’ll be flying back later this month.

INTERESTING FACT ABOUT THE RESORT’S WATER AEROBICS INSTRUCTORS: Two out of three don’t swim.

Hertha: “I never swam. I never learned. I have to know I can reach the bottom.”

Deb: “I’m not a swimmer. I’m not a lover of water. I stay in the same spot – it’s four feet deep.”

So if you’ve ever wanted to try the benefits of exercising in the water, but aren’t a skilled swimmer, you won’t be alone.

THE ST. PATRICK’S DAY STREET DANCE

Activities Director Margie Koboski passed along photos from the park’s latest success, the St. Patrick’s Day Street Dance, a big success. Margie said of the photos, “The last picture is grandkids visiting and getting line dance lessons. Gordy and Debbie were the band and loved by all.”

BIKE CLUB OUTING

In late March, the Bike Club went for an outing, led by Lydia Petterson.

BREAKFAST AT THE RESORT

And lastly, click for another set of photos Margie passed along. She included this description:

“These are from our last breakfast of the season, March 20^th, 2021. First are the volunteer workers — there are about 28 of us that work each breakfast, eating and working before the rush starts.

“We have a contest every week, people can guess the number that will show up for the Saturday breakfast. We do the drawing on Monday mornings — the person closest without going over wins a free breakfast the next week. We call it the ‘Golden Ticket For Breakfast.’ I have only one picture of the winner (we have had about 4). The rest of the pictures are of the nice crowd of people. This year it was just for people inside the park. Last year it was open to the public and outside people and we served up to 427 one breakfast.”