‘If rivers come out of their icy prison thus bright and immortal,
shall not I too resume my spring life with joy and hope?’
Henry David Thoreau
This quote from HDT’s journal provides the inspiration so many of us need. The past eight weeks have been a long haul - physically, spiritually, emotionally and financially. As of this writing, we do not know when the Beede Center will reopen, but are preparing for the day we do. Meanwhile our lines of communication are wide open. Visit
www.beedecenter.com
and
Concord Recreation’s Facebook
for updates, inspiration and even exercise tips.
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Christa Collins includes lunges intermittently along her 4.5-mile walk.
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Recreation Director Ryan Kane, Beede Center General Manager Andy Dutton and Program Manager of Aquatics Amanda Smith participate in weekly Zoom conferences that include representatives from recreation and aquatic departments around the country. The meetings incorporate information from the
Centers for Disease Control
, the federal agency that protects our nation’s health. All information gleaned for a safe reopening comes directly from the top.
We're also making personal phone calls to members as a way to touch base and let you know we’re thinking about you. Conversations so far have ranged from best home exercise practices, recipes for roasted tomatoes, and, yes, the devastating effects COVID-19.
If you haven’t heard from us yet, we either haven’t made it to your name on the list (there are a lot of you!) or we have an outdated phone number. Email
maureensbeedeemail@gmail.com
with the best contact number for you and we will reach out!
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While our re-open date remains a mystery, we’ve been busy identifying ways to make this long-awaited event as safe as possible.
If you haven’t already, we ask that you upload your Beede Membership Card to
Key_Ring
, a smartphone app that stores loyalty and membership cards, like ours. There is no charge, and the process is simple. The app captures an image of your barcode and photo. This prevents you from having to remember your ID every time you come to the gym.
Once uploaded, simply position your phone to flash the barcode in front of our ID reader - as many of you already do - and “zap,” you’re in. You may now tune your phone to your favorite podcast, music program or audio book and begin a healthy workout.
Your fellow gym members appreciate you taking the five minutes to eliminate one more thing that can be left in locker rooms or on shared equipment. The app works best if the screen on your smartphone is smooth and clean. Cracks and heavy cases cause interference. The app
Evernote
also works, but requires a paid subscription. If you do not have a smartphone, may we request that you wear a lanyard with your ID attached while at Beede? Many thanks in advance.
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Otters Outta Water
Once again, our youth swim team, The Otters, raises the bar on what it means to be a good sport. Forced to cancel their final and much anticipated meet in March, these kids have kept their spirits, bodies and winning ways strong, even though they haven’t swum a stroke.
Otters range in age from 6 to 18 and build wonderful camaraderie as well as athletic skills under the tutelage of Coach Maureen Cownie. Many go on to successful regional and Bay State Games and are standouts for their high school teams. Some of our early Otters are now swimming in college!
Otters know that success is no accident and they can handle any obstacle. And despite not knowing when they’ll be jumping off the blocks next, they are keeping themselves in shape. We see another fabulous Otters season in your future!
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Sibs Rhianna, Jake and Ethan Barrett stay grounded while keeping that strong champion Otters’ spirit alive.
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Land Exercises for Swimmers
Those Otters are so inspiring, Head Lifeguard Mark Ryder has put together an exercise program that all swimmers, even those over 18, can do on land to keep their swim muscles ship shape.
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Online Group Exercise
We know you’re missing the bend, stretch and camaraderie of your group exercise classes, which is why many of our instructors are doing classes online in realtime. Members and nonmembers have been taking these classes for weeks, and say they are enjoying them. The cost is $5 for members of the Beede Center and $10 for nonmembers.
Here’s the lineup:
- Monday - Peter / Gentle Flow Yoga @ 9am
- Tuesday - Laurel / Small Group Training @ 8am
- Tuesday - Lisa / Yoga Stretch & Strength @ 9am
- Tuesday - Lori / Pilates @ 10am
- Thursday - Laurel / Small Group Training @ 8am
- Friday - Lori / Barre @ 7am
- Friday - Peter / Gentle Flow Yoga @ 9am
Your fee helps pay the excellent instructors who spent time organizing the class and guiding you through. This is a great way to connect with others while staying in shape at home. No worries if you do not own weights or other gym equipment. The instructors have a list of substitutes, such as two cans of soup, that we’re positive you have at home. Sign ups are easy. Just
click here
.
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Happy Birthday Dear Beede
April 18 was a big day for the Beede Center. We celebrated 14 years of being your favorite fitness center. Like many of our members who turned a year older since the onset of Social Distancing, our celebration was rather low-key. As you can see from this archived photo, we’ve had many changes since our inception, yet many things have stayed the same. A heartfelt thank you to those who made us happen and to you, our valued members. Servicing you, your families and your fitness needs, from just getting a little exercise to training for a world-class competition, is our greatest pleasure. Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!
Pictured above are Russell Beede and his late wife Pat
.
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Staying Healthy Challenge
We set the challenge and you exceeded it!
In an email blast last month, we introduced the Beede Center: Staying Active Challenge, as a motivation to ramp up your workout on Patriots Day. Then you’d submit a photo - or two! - and a quick summary of your workout. There was one rule: Play it safe with social distancing. It is exciting and encouraging for us to see the many ways you are keeping fit while Beede is closed until further notice.
Our winner is
Farah Tavakol
, who devoted 50 minutes of a glorious Patriots Day peddling her indoor bike. Who says stationary bikes don’t take you anywhere? Farah’s just delivered her to a free season at White Pond for her entire family. Congratulations!
Let’s take a look at some of the workouts.
- One member got in some vigorous cardio workout by kickboxing for an hour! And if that wasn’t enough - as it would be for most people - she played backboard tennis for another half hour on a board she placed in her yard.
- A mother-daughter tandem laced up their running shoes for a customized triathlon. It began with a run, a hike along scenic Flint’s Pond and laundry. “Does that count?” she asked. Absolutely! What a brilliant way to incorporate aquatics. They weren’t the only custom triathletes on the course. A member ran 2.6 miles before a 25-minute Pilates routine followed by a 4.5 mile walk. That is fitness dedication!
- An early morning regular donned a fabric mask for a 4.5-mile run, making 2 stops for jumping jacks and lunges, then it was up and down 12 flights of stairs before adding the New York Times 6-minute workout.
- Three of you took to the trails. One clocked 7.10 miles through Estabrook Woods. One woman walked 4.74 miles through her Thoreau Hills neighborhood before work. Another member ran a few loops around Great Brook in Carlisle and added our July 4 Fun Run course - which he clocked in his car to be 1.5 miles. Knowing he’d be at work on Patriots Day, he squeezed his challenge in on April 19, hoping it was OK. It was more than OK because the Eastern Hemisphere was already deep into April 20 when he completed. It's always tomorrow somewhere. Good job.
- Next up is a member who is self-motivated to do forearm planks. But that’s not all. Here’s a glimpse of a regular routine: Warm up with 5 minutes of five rounds of cardio: 45 seconds of squat to stand, 15 seconds of jumping jacks. The actual workout is 3 rounds of either 25 or 50 reps of bodyweight squats, 2 minutes of jumping jacks and 50 reps of glute raises. Still standing after all that, she finished with 3 rounds each of 1 minute PVC pipe stiff-legged deadlifts and 1-minute forearm planks. WOW! One can get sculpted just reading this.
We love the pictures of the family pickleball game, the online yoga enthusiasts, stair climbers and walkers. Yes, the walkers. What a wonderful way to stay fit and enjoy the beautiful outdoors.
No challenge is complete without a dose of humor. A daily swimmer and former guard at White Pond back in the 1970s said she’s walking once a day and doing crunches twice: Captain in the morning and Nestle in the afternoon!
With all these excellent workout routines, we are thrilled that you all are finding ways to stay fit.
Congratulations to everyone who submitted an entry!
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Classmates from Pat Kreckel’s water fitness class, including Suzanne Leung, surprised her with
a driveby birthday parade.
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Surprise Birthday Parade
The Annual Patriots Day Parade and our Birthday celebration were cancelled but there was still a birthday parade in town.
On Sunday, April 19, the official anniversary of Patriots Day, Birthday girl and Beede member Pat Kreckel watched a surprise parade drive past her window.
Pat, a retired school teacher from Baltimore, moved to Concord five years ago. She knew exactly one local: her sister! Pat began taking water fitness at Beede to stay in shape and maybe meet new friends. She accomplished both.
After setting things up with Pat’s sister, water fitness classmates Linda Corbett, Laura LeVan, Ginny McDermott and Suzanne Leung, arranged a birthday driveby parade outside Pat’s window. Another good friend and classmate Loretta Filipov was unable to join in, but sent best wishes.
“It really lifted my spirits,” said Pat, who turned a lucky 77. “And I thank Beede for that. When I moved here I knew no one. I left all my friends behind in Baltimore. This is where I made my friends.”
Birthday wishes from all your friends at Beede, Pat!
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Digging Digital Workouts
Our facility may be on lockdown, but two of our trainers are open for business. Established and well respected Personal Trainers Jeff Cobb and Brian Kalagher are using FaceTime and Zoom to keep their clients strong.
Jeff and Brian are also happy to work with you if your regular trainer is not available. No home gym? No problem! These guys are becoming pros at preparing stopgap routines using things you do have around your house, such as chairs.
Keeping fit is more about client-trainer relationships than equipment. “Sometimes it’s just the voice of my personal trainer that will motivate me,” says Charter member Valarie Kinkade, who has been using FaceTime three mornings each week with Brian.
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The Basmajian family, Varant, Nora, Alex and Maureen, enjoy their surprise Easter treats.
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Local Celebrity delivers Easter smiles
It’s widely known that the Beede Center membership includes a fair amount of international celebrities. Count the Easter Bunny among those ranks. You may have been unaware that the Easter Bunny is not only a charter member who helped get the Beede Center launched, he’s probably the fastest runner among our members and he always has an ear tuned into the local economy.
Upon learning that church services would be held online, his thoughts hopped straight to Jennifer Eaton, owner of The Copper Penny florist, and David Giurleo, owner of Colonial Gardens. “What’s going to happen to all those lilies the churches would normally buy to line their alters?” the Easter Bunny asked. (He agreed to this interview on the condition of anonymity.)
So our celebrity cottontail bought all the beautiful Easter lilies and distributed them randomly, along with chocolate-filled eggs, to the homes of Beede Center members. What a fun surprise for families! The Easter Bunny so enjoyed bringing smiles to local families, small-time florists and neighborhood farms they work with, he hinted that some Beede moms may expect a similar treat come Mother’s Day!
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Beloved Children’s Librarian Fiona Stevenson hosted Beede & Books onsite in early March.
The popular program has temporarily moved to the library’s Facebook page.
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Storytime Online
Beede & Books did not go away, it did what everything else did. It went online.
Meet up with Fiona Stevenson, and other wonderful librarians from the Concord Free Public Library on the library’s
Facebook
page
.
Yes, normally, the story would be followed by fun in the children's pool. We have yet to figure out how to duplicate that online. Meanwhile, enjoy a good book with friends.
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Looking forward to seeing you all real soon.
Meanwhile…stay well & safe everyone!
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