Let’s get ready to tumble! Gymnastics club expands

• Gymnastics Club leases space

Debbie Griffin photos The RF Gymnastics Club signed a lease for this building beside Jackelen (auto) Body/Frame.

Talk about it

The River Falls Gymnastics Club signed a lease early this month for the building at 151 Hwy. 35, where it plans to begin holding classes starting March 7.

Passersby might notice the big, new sign on the building beside Jackelen Body/Frame.

President of the club’s board, Kaci (Gavic) Nowicki, said about the deal, “We just needed a bigger space.”

The club now holds classes in the Meyer Middle School gym and some in the downtown space of Zaney Janey’s on South Main Street. The present capacity allows the club to hold only once class at a time.

Nowicki said demand for classes is growing, and the club needs to build enrollment to stay on track for building a future facility.

“We’re turning away families that couldn’t get in at the time they need,” she said.

Now the club will be able to accommodate more families and new classes, like the possibility of an all-boy tumbling class.

Nowicki said the club will soon start advertising its services in other communities, too.

She said parents will be happy about the new viewing area in the bigger, leased building. Some moms and dads like to watch their kids engaged in class. Now they’ll have a comfortable place to do so.

The building along Hwy. 35N also gives the club a separate room for gymnastics-themed birthday parties.

Nowicki said the club has offered them for a while but has never had a separate room where party goers can eat cake and open gifts.

In the gym area during parties, the kids do physically fun activities like obstacle courses and group games. Nowicki said each birthday child receives a little medal. The building along Hwy. 35 also offers ample parking. The club will move some of its equipment and plans to buy a few new pieces also.

The RF Gymnastics Club will continue operating some classes at the middle school, and Nowicki said the club is grateful to the school district for allowing it to use space in the MMS gym.

She thinks the club will be able to return this space-sharing favor once the club builds its permanent facility.

The club is moving its Jungle Gym program (for ages 6 and under), as well as its Rollers and Turners beginner classes, to the Hwy. 35 facility.

Jump in

Nowicki said the club and its supporters will be working hard during February to ready the space for classes starting in early March.

The club plans an open house at its new space April 9, when people can come and see the facility and equipment, take a tour, have some snacks. Parents can ask questions while kids play on the equipment.

Nowicki mentions the club’s April 17 extravaganza as a date people might want to remember. Those who learn skills through the club give various performances.

“The kids do a little show, and that’s really fun,” she said.

Inside, the club’s new landlord is removing a wall to create that much-desired parent-viewing area. Since the building was an auto-oriented business before, the floor is sloped, so Nowicki said that will be made even and level for its new use.

“We’re looking for parents to help paint and move chairs…,” she said about what help the club needs. “Right now we’re looking for chairs for the lobby.”

Club members and friends are also cleaning, painting, arranging and sprucing up in general. They welcome anyone to donate labor as well as lumber, carpet, paint and other materials.

Nowicki said, “We’ve been looking for a big space to lease for this reason, probably for about two years now.”

She said the club looked at many, many spaces that were either too big or too expensive. One of the board members with a keen eye happened to see the “For Rent” sign pop up in a window of the Hwy. 35 building.

Nowicki says the club’s main focus is to be a recreational program for youth sports, and to have fun and promote socialization. Though its programs can also serve competitive gymnasts, Nowicki said the club has far more kids in it for recreation.

She says regardless of their focus, students learn valuable life skills.

The club has about 260 kids enrolled and typically serves about 500 a year.

She said the main idea behind the leased building is to enable the club to give people more options for classes and class times. People can check out the session schedules and registration process online at

www.rfgymnasticsclub.com

Friends of the club who’d like to donate something or help with work at the new space can call the Gymnastics Club office at 715-425-6007.

Tags: news, business, sports, gymnastics