Fit to Print Volume 22, Issue 4 : December 2013 | Page 5

S t a f f Pe r s p e c t i v e

by Laurie Gilfedder

F.I.’s Big 3-Oh
How We Got Here
Sometime in the 1980’s: Cor & Liz Romano at the original FI

The Author...

The Big 3-0h! And I wish I was talking
about a birthday!
0 years ago, I was half my age now.
How did I get here? If you are like
me, you can't help thinking about
Fitness Incentive's 30th anniversary
without remembering the day you walked
through FI's doors for the very first time.
My husband had surprised me with a gift
certificate/membership and it was the
first time that I ever stepped inside a gym
as a customer rather than as an
employee. I can't quite remember the
exact year, but it's funny, I do remember
the time! I stepped inside the door at 6
Grove Place at four o'clock that first day,
about twenty-five years ago to take the
afternoon class taught by Tina. Little did
I know then, that first visit was going to
be the beginning of a long and happy
relationship! I have been here ever since
and I've stopped counting the years in this
fitness journey. But it began more than
thirty years ago…….

3

Vic Tanny's and European Health Spas had
gone out of business, their members were
stuck with LIFETIME memberships, and
the reputation of the gym industry was
severely tarnished. The year was 1972
and I needed a part time job while going
to school. Enter Elaine Powers Figure
Salons. If memory serves me well, I
trained all of three or four days to be

become an “instructor.” So much for
certifications back then. So there I
was, sufficiently trained to lead “Team
Time,” the 1970's version of an aerobics
class. Basically we rolled, kicked and
tumbled on the floor doing whatever
came to mind for 20 minutes. No
music, but sometimes we sang, so it
was more like a children's play date!
No sneakers, not much effort, no sweat!
And the exercise equipment….now
that's really a trip back in time. Do you
remember Vitamaster Rollers and
vibrating belts? They were guaranteed
to shake that weight off! It must have
been working, because we measured
our clients every single week….the

“This little home town,
home-grown aerobics studio
that started thirty years ago on
Grove Place has grown into a
17,000 square foot full service
fitness facility and beaten the
odds. Why??”
inches melted off in seven days! Too
good to be true? You're right! Well my
career there was short lived as the Mid
Island Shopping Mall had a fire and the
gym burned down. I moved on to other
gyms while Elaine Powers Figure Salons
reopened and then eventually closed.
And that's been the nature of the beast
ever since. Openings and closings of
hundreds, maybe thousands, of gyms
over and over and over!
A 30th birthday is certainly one of life's
milestones. A 30th anniversary in a
marriage is a ‘miracle’ and quite an
accomplishment, and in the Gym world,
30 years in business is a spectacular
triumph and really something to
celebrate! If average divorce rates are
50%, gym failure rates are probably
equal or more! So this little home
town, home-grown aerobics studio that
started thirty years ago on Grove Place
in Babylon and has grown into a 17,000
square foot full service fitness facility
has beaten the odds. Why?? Is it our
equipment? Perhaps our classes? The
Holidays 2013 FIT to Print

availability of the nursery? The energy
when you walk in the door? The
instructors? The trainers? Is it the
cleanliness of our facility? Our hours?
Our location? What is it?
It's hard to describe and certainly difficult
to put into words. You understand it once
you're here and you're a part of it, but it's
intangible and priceless! We believe, as
we've been saying for years, that we're
still here because we're more than a
membership, we're a relationship. We
are more than a gym, we are a
community, we are friends, we are
colleagues, and we are family…our gym
family. You probably spend more time
with us than you do some friends and
relatives! We are a community of caring,
helpful, loyal and like minded members
and staff on the same fitness journey, the
same life journey supporting one another
along the way. So just as we celebrate
our 30th anniversary, many of you are also
celebrating your 30th, 25th, 20th, 10th,
5th or even 1st anniversaries with us at
Fitness Incentive! Congratulations to you
all! You are what make us possible. It's
your loyalty, your enthusiasm, your
friendship, and your support that make
our community so strong. It's
commitment and dedication to each
other, our FI community, that has put us
here and kept us all together making
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