Peggy Rohatyn and Debby Knight are excited that people can use Fresh Air Fitness in the Woodlawn Regional Park once again.
The popular outdoor exercise area opened for the first time in 2020 on Friday as part of the provincial government’s Re-Open Saskatchewan Plan. Rohatyn and Knight had been hoping the site would open at the same time that Woodlawn Regional Park opened to the public.
“People are anxious to get out there,” said Rohatyn. “I was down there working yesterday (on June 10), and there was a family asking about it, whether it would be opened or not.”
The park’s maintenance staff has kept the Fresh Air Fitness site trimmed and looking good. They had a few pieces of equipment that required repairs, but Rohatyn said that’s to be expected.
To be ready for Friday’s opening, Fresh Air Fitness had to repaint the weights and hang the ropes, which they had put away for the winter months. And they had to finish some cleanup around the site.
New for this year will be the addition of aerial yogo. Rohatyn described it as being in a hammock for yoga exercises, allowing participants to be upside down and to twirl around.
“We’re getting the structure built over the yoga platform so that OM Yoga will be giving classes for aerial yoga,” said Rohatyn.
They hope to have a new sign this year, and they have a couple other items they would like to add to the site, but that will depend on finances.
They are also looking to get a couple of cameras for the grounds, due to what Rohatyn referred to as “silly little incidents” that have happened. She hopes cameras will discourage people from that kind of behaviour.
Nothing has been wrecked during those incidents, but they are frustrating.
Since Rohatyn and Knight had to cancel the Coal Country Run fundraiser for Fresh Air Fitness in May, it hampers their fundraising capabilities. Also cancelled for this year is the Force Fitness Challenge, which was held for the first time last year during the Rafferty Rumble weekend, and was supposed to happen this year as part of the Rumble.
“Every time somebody uses a piece of equipment it has to be cleaned, and you can’t have more than 30 people.”
People will have to remember several things when using the equipment at Fresh Air Fitness, beyond the two metres of social distancing, which Rohatyn described as the most important thing. There is no water or bathrooms down there, so people will have to bring their own hand sanitizer, possibly use gloves when using the equipment and maybe even wash up as soon as they get home.
“Keep safe and keep your family safe and enjoy it,” she said.
Children under the age of 12 have to be supervised at all times.
Rohatyn noted Fresh Air Fitness encourages people to purchase a pass to the park each year, even though the outdoor recreation site is in the free park area. But the park does a great job of looking after the maintenance and the upkeep of the grounds, and Rohatyn hopes people will support the park.
