Fit to Print Volume 23 Issue 1: March 2014 | Seite 5

M e m b e r Pe r s p e c t i v e

It Was a Very Good Year
1984, That Is...
The Author...

Rosaria: I remember when the Steps
came in...and in the early days, we
had to share the Steps because the
demand was so great and there weren't
enough to go around.
Noreen: And on Monday nights, they'd
be set up out the door and on the
sidewalk to accommodate all the
members. And that was at 9:00 at
night! Cor would work all day in the
city, come home, work the desk and
teach the classes...all in a day's work.
Rosaria: I remember that before I
started teaching, I was taking
Marybeth's class, because it was more
like a beginner's class, and that's kind
of where I was at that time...and I

30 Years On: Rosaria, Cor and Noreen

1

984. Lots of goings-on that year.
Some ridiculous, some
sublime…though nothing
(depending on who you ask) on the order
of what transpired in Orwell's dystopian
cautionary tale. It was the year of the
King of Pop. Michael Jackson's Jheri curls
were set afire on the set of a Pepsi
commercial (another reason—as if we
needed even one more—to avoid soda)
just a month before he won a record 8
Grammys. Los Angeles hosted the
Summer Olympics, sans the Soviet Union
(still rattling sabers and making a fuss,
though in some ways, the handwriting
was already on the Berlin Wall). The
Edmonton Oilers defeated the New York
Islanders for their first Stanley Cup,
ending the home team's historic dynasty.
Oh, and Fitness Incentive opened its
doors. There's the 'sublime' promised
earlier! 30 years ago, history was made in
our little corner of the world, and it
hasn't been the same since. 30 wonderful
years to look back on and reflect and
reminisce about how great it's been—and
still is.
Noreen Wingert, Rosaria Broesler, and
Cathy Peacock have been with Fitness
Incentive literally for 30 years, and
recently they got together with Cor to
share memories of the early days of FI.
Noreen: I started at Fitness Incentive
when it was on Grove Place, when we
were just a room, a carpet, a mirror, and
Cathy at the little make-shift desk.
Cathy: That little desk is where I got my
start. I couldn't work the computer...I
barely knew what a computer was.

“I'll be coming here
until the nursing home
cancels the shuttles!
And I'm sure there will
be something I can do!
remember waiting to begin while Cor's
class was still going on, and thinking
“I'll never be able to take Cor's classes!
They are soooo hard! I'd give anything
to be able to do that!” And the next
thing you know, little by little, there I
was.
I was talking and laughing with
Michelle (Pepito) recently and said
“Michelle, you’re kind of a newbie, but
you have to understand we all had our
spots on the carpet. Heaven forbid
anyone coming and standing in your
spot! You had to, very tactfully, deliver
an “excuse me, but...”
It got to the point where, because I'd
taken so many of your classes, Cor, you
said to me, “Oh my God, Ro, you know
what I'm going to do before I do!”
When you exercise with someone for
that long, you get to know their moves
and rhythms. You actually get a much
better workout when you're that
familiar with the instructor because
you never miss a beat.
Cor: Cathy and I didn't have children
yet, but Noreen and Rosaria did.
Spring 2014 FIT to Print

Rosaria: Yes, we did. Christopher
(Wingert) and Corrine (Broesler)
were...5?
Noreen: And after class we'd all go back
to your house, Cor, and go in the
pool...you'd have us all over, we'd have
lunch, and there'd be a pool full of kids.
Cor: I'd come home from work some days
and you'd all be there...
Cathy: Like it was the Town Pool! Like
you should have needed a pass!
Cor: And now, all those young kids are
adults themselves, with families. And
someone like Noreen's son, Chris Wingert,
who is a professional soccer player, still
comes to Fitness Incentive!
Noreen: Yes, he still comes to the gym
every time he comes home. He's got to
get in his little kicks down here.
Cor: And Noreen's daughter Keri has two
kids, and they're here in the nursery now.
Rosaria: The same kids that we used to
have in that little babys