By Katie Scarvey
kscarvey@salisburypost.com
SPENCER ó “I will survive; I will survive. As long as I know how to love, I know I’ll be alive.” Not really typical church music, but the Gloria Gaynor anthem to powerful women seemed appropriate for the mighty women of the Spencer Exercise Group gathered at Oakdale Baptist Church’s fellowship hall on a sunny Thursday morning.
These women aren’t just surviving ó they’re thriving, many of them well into their 80s.
The group meets Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10 a.m. and has been led by Adlonia Henderson ó a youngster at 73 ó since January 2003.
The group started back in the mid-1990s as a joint effort between the Rowan County Health Department, what was then the Salisbury YMCA and Oakdale Baptist Church, says Susan Musselman, the health and wellness coordinator at Rufty-Holmes Senior Center.
At the time, Musselman was the Y’s aerobic director. The YMCA provided and paid for the group’s instruction, she says.
Tip Miller was an early leader of the program, Musselman adds. Miller had been through the hospital’s cardiac rehabilitation program and wanted to pattern the group after that. He arranged to have some stationary bicycles donated to the program.
After he died, others picked up the ball, Musselman says. The YMCA continued the funding until somewhere around 2002, when it approached the senior center about providing an instructor.Rick Eldridge, Rufty-Holmes executive director, secured funding from the town of Spencer and recruited longtime group member Adlonia Henderson to lead the group.
Like some other members of the group, Henderson has had her share of health issues. She was diagnosed with diabetes about 15 years ago and had a heart attack in 1999. She also has a mild case of Parkinson’s ó but hasn’t let any of it interfere with her keeping active, which is a priority for her.”I love to exercise. Movement helps,” she says, referring to her Parkinson’s. “I don’t let it keep me down.”
The women are arranged in a circle. Each has a chair, a basketball and a set of light weights.
Henderson leads the group with assurance, and the women are clearly old hands at this. Everybody knows what to do.
After the exercise session, the women huddle up for a prayer session, because the fact is, this group is about more than exercise. It’s about fellowship as well.
Catherine Feezor, 80, recounts who’s in the hospital, who’s having a tough time.
After prayer requests are made, the women join hands while Henderson prays.
Her voice quavers just a bit, but the faith and conviction in her voice ring out nonetheless.
At 87, Trulie Harkey is the group’s oldest member present, and somewhat of a sparkplug. Her role seems to be to keep everybody laughing and upbeat.
“Everybody says it’s so quiet when I’m gone,” she says.
She points to the mats in the corner. “At one time we had pads, but we can’t get up now, so we don’t use them anymore.”
That explains the chairs.
“Being with this group helps me so much,” Trulie says.
Everyone agrees that the group is like an extended family for them.
Rachel Mowry, who has been part of the group since 2001, says she appreciates what she gets out of the group.
When she stopped coming, she says, she noticed a decline in her energy level and her ability to move.
“When I do this, I’m very flexible,” she said.
Many in the group have had periods of non-attendance because they were serving as a caretaker for a sick spouse or because they had health issues themselves.
Catherine, for example, has had a heart attack and a knee replacement which sidelined her for a while.
Sometimes, people come with canes, and they do what they can, Catherine says.
The size of the group varies from session to session, with as many as 22 participating. Open to any senior who wants to participate, the group sometimes offers special programs, many of which focus on health concerns, such as diabetic cooking.
Most people hear about the group through word of mouth.
Men, by the way, are very much allowed and encouraged to come ó there just don’t happen to be any presently who attend.
“A lot of our men have died out on us,” Catherine says.
Of the eight women present, all are widows except for Dr. Ruth Elium, an 82-year-old retired optometrist, and Barbara Mallett, who at 62 is definitely the baby of the group.
Marie Hocutt ó known as the walking lady around Spencer, is 86.
“This doesn’t replace my walking,” said Marie, who was recently featured in a Post profile. She’s been coming to the exercise sessions for about 10 years, she says.
The women seem to prefer to stay in motion ó they don’t like to stand still for long.
“As long as we keep moving, we’re OK,” Catherine says.
Hazel Snider is one group member who isn’t interested in divulging her age.
When you do, she says, people are likely to say, “Oh God, you’re feeble aren’t you?”
In this room, the only answer to that question is a resounding “No!”