HomeMy WebLinkAbout120125 email Collective Public CommentALERT: BE CAUTIOUS This email originated outside the organization. Do not open attachments or click on links if you are not expecting them.
Commissioners,
I had attempted to Zoom in this morning with my Zumba class to make a collective public comment pertaining to 2026 county budget cuts but was experiencing a technical issue. We recorded
a short video and is attached via google drive - I hope that is a feasible means of sending a video, as it was too large to attach in the message. I know you’re being bombarded with
emails about many topics right now, but I would love to take a moment of your time to profess my love for the Rec Center and the activities that happen therein.
I’ve been teaching Zumba classes at the Rec Center since 2019 and have a profound appreciation for the magnitude of the our community gymnasium - its capacity has no rival anywhere nearby,
especially at an affordable rate that helps us to keep our rates low and accessible for the public, increasing our reach to members of the community who might be priced out of other
options for group fitness. The energy that collects in that gym as 60 of us are all moving and laughing together to the same music is a spiritual experience, and having attempted recreating
this effect in smaller spaces has been an impossible task. At the risk of being a bit of a bleeding heart, I do what I do not only as my primary source of income (which helps to feed
and clothe my family and keep bills paid), but I do it for the positive change I see in people who engage in group fitness, in community activities, who challenge their brains and their
bodies and are able to live their most vibrant lives because of the joy and belonging they experience in the classes available at the Rec Center.
If you took a peek inside that gymnasium, 5 days out of the week from 9-10am, you would see not an exercise class, but the gathering place of folks from all walks of the county who choose
to be there and celebrate life on a daily basis. You would see babies gleefully bouncing along with the music as their mom enjoys her hour of escape from the nonstop chaos of parenting
while the community around her help keep an eye on her kiddo. You would see the 90 year old woman swaying blissfully along (and all the people who look over at her and smile to see
her joy), recovering from a stroke she was told she might not bounce back from. You’d see healthcare workers, educators, therapists, grandparents, elected officials and their families,
kids who convince their mom to come to Zumba with them so they “can get their dance on”. The way that we collect ourselves in that precious space to share in joy, community, music,
and lastly, exercise - all year round, is absolutely a way of life for us and we have been in an absolute panic at the possibility of no longer having access to our beloved Rec Center.
I’m not normally one for statistics, but I know it would be helpful for you to see, so here goes. In my classes, attendance can range anywhere from 15 people to 60, 5x a week. Attendees
range in age from teens and kiddos in the Summertime (and kids with their parent on any given morning), to 90 years old, with just about every age in-between, coexisting in the most
incredible and beautiful way - sometimes three generations of a family all dancing side by side! I’ve had it expressed to me for years now, how important it is for the more elderly
attendees to commingle with little kids in the setting our Zumba classes offer. Brains and bodies are healthier and happier, lasting friendships are made, the all-important sense of
community is fostered. We are better versions of ourselves when we get to share in these experiences together. Please note that my appreciation for the Rec Center and those who run
it is not limited to Zumba, but all the organizations and activities that occur within that building. Wintertime with an almost four-year-old, without the Rec Center to escape to, would
be BRUTAL. It is absolutely a necessity, and not a commodity that we can do without.
If you’re still with me after all this, thank you so much for taking the time to read my thoughts and feelings. I personally would be deeply impacted by a potential close of the Rec
Center, but more importantly, all of those souls that find joy in that room despite whatever is happening in their lives - those are the people I am most concerned about, should the
Rec Center shut its doors or become less of an open community space.
Video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XWlk2I_KMS33NtFREDxUGBftNC6nAvF_/view?usp=sharing
So much gratitude for everything you do, Commissioners.
Warmly (but fervently),
Bailey Burkhartsmeier
Resident, Parent, Homeowner, Taxpayer, Community Advocate, Unofficial PT Ambassador and Certified Zumba Instructor
(Your ally in serving the community)