Yes Lon, I am a Slacker and there is a Santa Clause

As Eugene has been saying, "another Christmas miracle." I'm finally sitting down and blogging. First I want to wish everyone a wonderful holiday season of good health and happiness and thank our members and friends for their amazing support.

The new belt and deck on one of the Star Trac treadmills have been installed as well as a new deck on the other. What a difference it makes. If you haven't used them it really is smooth! We apologize for the broken display on the elliptical and hope to get a new one in soon.

Hometown Slim Down will begin January 5. See our website for details. The winner will get a 6 month membership!!

So now that the eating frenzy is starting to wind down I can safely say that I have maintained my current weight, unfortunately it's still 15 lbs more than it should be. I should be careful since there is still a week of eating left. Every year my resolution is the same, to eat better and get back to my goal weight of 135. So now you know what I'm tipping the scales at if you are quick at math! This year I have changed it a little. I still want to eat better but I'm getting more specific. I want to eat the recommended fruits and vegetable servings (4 cups daily, 21/2 of veggies and 1 1/2 of fruits, per the food pyramid) This will be tough since I'm picky about eating some vegetables. In addition to a health related resolution I also want to read more and watch less TV. This should also help curb eating since my hands will be holding a book instead of a doughnut. My final resolution will be to blog more regularly, don't look for daily posts, let's set realistic goals like once a week and go from there. One thing I know for sure, if you don't set realistic goals you'll surely get discouraged and quit altogether!
Until next week.....
Thank you to Steve for offering to take the cookies off my hands as well as the info on Bass and Guiness, I'll enjoy them during the next week guilt free!

Tis the season

In addition to information about events and other new info about the gym I'm going to start really "blogging." "Really blogging" to me means free writing about my thoughts around health wellness and exercise. Don't be disappointed though, I will still try to keep updates first in my post, then leave it up to you the reader to continue reading on.

I think our holiday rush is beginning and it is great. Great to see so many people being proactive about their health and fitness before the season of eating is in full swing. Today we had 30 members sign in and work out. That is the highest number we have had since we took over it blows any other day out of the water by about 15! We are also up to around 85 members. I think so far we are seeing good flow and no back up at machines due to overcrowding. We will continue to monitor this and let members know when peak times are (meaning a longer wait time to use machines.) Don't hesitate to ask Eugene for hours that are more or less crowded.

Here is my blog for those of you who are not interested in my ramblings you will want to end reading here! :)

Tis the season for overeating and under moving. Okay, so maybe not for some. In fact many of us probably feel like we are moving at light speed. We may be running around shopping and tying up loose ends before the holidays. All of this running around however can lead to dangerous eating fast food (or just high fat "easy to pick up and go" items) and not making time to exercise (too busy, too tired, no time to fit it in, excuses!) I feel like I lose this battle every year. At least the eating side of it. I'll often say "good thing I exercise so much or I'd gain 50 lbs over the holiday months." What I'd like to say instead is that I made good choices and maintained or even lost some weight over the holiday. Why do I wait for Jan 1 every year to begin eating better again? I know one answer to that, cookies, I love my mom's homemade chocolate chip cookies and I eat about 2, maybe even 3 dozen by Christmas Eve. This year I am going to try to be different. I'm not depriving myself from eating some of them, I just need to focus and eat 1. It's a mind game, I need to tell myself I don't need 5 cookies. If you see me, remind me of this. I know when I make myself accountable for something I'm more likely to do it. It worked for me when I was in a weight loss program before so it certainly can work again. So next time you see me ask me how my 1 cookie rule is going, I'm hoping, no I know now that you all know about it I will work harder!

Automatic Withdrawl is Now Available

Stop in during our staffed hours after Thanksgiving to sign up for automatic withdrawl. Members who take advantage of this will get a discount on their monthly fees.

Single membership: $27.00 monthly
Couple membership: $45.00 monthly
Family membership: $49.50 monthly

I'm back!

Okay, so as my brother noted in his comment it has been a month. I've been very busy, mostly doing my day job which has taken me out of town for many of the last couple of weeks. We have also been spending any other free moment working on our house. So now that I have justified my blog slacking lets give updates on the gym.

Our cardio equipment had a check-up by our service rep on Saturday. The elliptical and both Star Trac treadmills are all in need of some new parts. The elliptical needs a new part to get it to communicate the need to increase and decrease resistance. The treadmills both need new belts and decks, this will keep them from heating up and blowing the motors. I learned all about it on Saturday. Once that is done they will be in great condition and prepared for heavy use during the busy months ahead.

Direct deposit is finally here! We will be up and running on Wednesday once Eugene goes through a little on-line training. Our holiday special will be discounts on memberships done through direct deposit.

This will be the last month to take advantage of our 3 months for $75, so hurry in to take advantage of this special which ends on Sunday November 30, 2008.

We have a website!!

In addition to this blog I have created a website. Please visit:

http://cubahometownfitness.weebly.com

More press and open house!

Almost a week has passed since I posted so I thought I should at least give some details about our open house or Grand Opening! We plan on having some healthy snacks and a couple of workshops along with some giveaways. It is our opportunity to show our appreciation to our dedicated members and welcome our new members all of whom we hope to provide the best service for years to come. I thought I would post our invite here so anyone interested would know the details.

What: Hometown Fitness Grand Opening
When: November 1, 2008 8AM-8PM
Where: Hometown Fitness, 32 West Main Street, Cuba, NY
Come join us! Questions? Please call or email us at:
585-209-4041 or cubahometownfitness@gmail.com

Work gets in the way.

Well it's been a couple of days since I posted so I thought I'd do a quick post. I'm out of town for work so I haven't been around to post what is going on at the gym. Our ab machine is in and when I spoke with Eugene today he was assembling it! Yeah! We are still planning our grand opening and I hope we attract members both current and new. Even more than that I hope we can add a little "excitement" to the downtown business scene. I'll report more tomorrow when I return. Until then please don't forget to sign up for our blogs and podcasts workshop on Saturday. Email us @ cubahometownfitness@gmail.com for more information.

Members Welcome!

Another great weekend. We had a few more folks join and look forward to seeing those who have said they will be back in November. The beautiful weather is allowing us all a few more days to enjoy fitness outdoors.

We are going to start our workshops this weekend. Since the gym now has wi-fi we thought we'd help our members learn how to use technology to help achieve their fitness goals. Members (or future members) can join us on Saturday, October 18, 2008 to learn how how to research or create Blogs and Podcasts as fitness tools. Please email, call or stop by Hometown Fitness during staffed hours for more information or to sign up for the workshop.

Our Grand Opening will be Saturday, November 1, 2008 from 8AM-8PM so please stop by to say hello or even come workout. We plan on having healthy snacks and various promotional giveaways. Stay tuned for more!

It really is Eugene, not Jim.

Well the same article appeared in the Allegany Courier this week and unfortunately Eugene is still named Jim in the article. We really did try to get it changed, I guess we'll need to do something spectacular to get on the front page with the correct name. Until then Eugene may have to answer to both names :).

There isn't much to report on this weekend. The beautiful weather is likely keeping everyone outside. I honestly can't blame them. Still no detail for our grand opening. Maybe I'll try to work on things tonight or tomorrow. I love long weekends.

Has it really been another week?

Wow, the time is racing by. I have not spent much time at the gym this week. Actually, that's not all true. I've been getting up around 5:30 and hitting the treadmill and some weights then coming home and switching spots with Eugene. Our schedule is still being worked out. That's one excuse (I don't have time to work out) I no longer use. I make time to exercise because I know I feel better when I do.

Since my last post the cable, internet and phone have been installed. That means we are officially wi-fi! Members can use their mobile devices while working out. I'm not sure how many members have this technology but maybe we'll look at having a technology night in the future.

Along that line we are exploring the suggestion of one of our members to have some theme nights each month. The origin of our name "Hometown Fitness" is our deliberate intention to be a part of the community as well as create community spirit through fitness. We had a nice gentleman come in today and ask "Am I too old to exercise here?" I think that's what is so great about fitness, you're never too old or too young to make exercise a core part of your life.

The Ab Machine (pictured below) is coming! With no luck finding one from our contact we have ordered one. It should be here in a couple of weeks.

Please keep suggestions coming. We are in the process of putting together our "Grand Opening" as well as our marketing campaign. As we have details I'll continue to post.

Any press is good press!

Another packed weekend of working at the fitness center and beginning the remodel of our new home. We were happy to have the Bills game to watch on satellite, well, for the first couple of minutes anyway. We are now connected to Cable now which also means we have a land line phone number as well as the wi-fi capability. I'll post when that is ready. I'm working on some promotional material and will have it included in there in the next day or so.

Our article did appear on the front page of the Business Section of the Times Herald yesterday. It was a very nice article. Unfortunately Eugene's name was printed as Jim McFarland. We contacted the paper so hopefully that change can be made. Eugene may just have to answer to Jim for a bit! We are still grateful to OTH since we still see any press is good advertising for us.

We made it!

I am happy to say that we have reached the end of what has been a great first week. Adjusting to a new schedule has been the biggest challenge for our family. As the weeks go on I'm sure we will develop a good routine that we can all live with. As for now I think we are all exhausted.

We have a nice group of members already that have either decided to stay on with the fitness center as well as some new members. It is our sincere pleasure to provide people of our surrounding communities with an option to incorporate fitness into their lifestyle.

Look for us in the Olean Times Herald this weekend too. Thanks goes out to Kip Doyle for stopping by to write about us. We hope that this will be a way to highlight our efforts to help reinvent the look of our Main Street. It is also our intention to launch a more extensive marketing plan in the coming weeks. An official grand opening is still in the works. An open house will give us a chance for people to what kinds of changes we have and plan to make.

Please feel free to comment on the blog or email us at cubahometownfitness@gmail.com, we appreciate the feedback!

Open for Business

We are officially accepting membership registrations. A warm welcome to all of those who signed up today. It is our goal to provide you with great service as well as helping you achieve your fitness goals whatever they may be.

The golf area is not ready yet, hopefully by weeks end. Today was spent signing people up as well as giving the Nautilus area a good cleaning and arranging a better flow for using the circuit.

Beginning Wednesday all entry to the facility will be through use of member codes only. So if you haven't made it in yet please stop in between 6AM-10Am and 3PM-8PM when we will be available to fill out membership paperwork and assign an access code. I plan to keep the blog going so members can keep up to date on any new developments or changes.

Don't forget to email any questions or concerns to cubahometownfitness@gmail.com.

Details Details Details

Phew, what a busy weekend. In addition to taking over the gym we closed on our house. So its been a lot of cleaning, preparing and driving between both. The key less entry is finally installed and we will begin assigning codes when we sign up members on Monday. The speed and heavy bag arrived and has been added to the free weight area. We hope to get the golf net installed and ready for use by the end of the day on Monday. We are picking up our signs for the windows in Buffalo tomorrow so they will be ready for our official opening.

We have put together a schedule when the facility will be staffed for members to sign up. This schedule may change as we begin looking at peak member attendance times. We also appreciate any input from members as to when they would like to have staff on hand.

Here are the hours we will have staff in the gym for our opening weeks:
Monday-Friday - 6 AM-10AM & 3PM-8PM
Saturday & Sunday - 8AM-12PM

Membership prices are as follows:
Single member (one adult age 18 and over): $30.00 monthly

Couple membership (two adults living at same residence age 18 and over): $50.00 monthly

Family membership (up to two adults and children*age 16-17): $55.00 monthly
*Children must be at least 16 of age to use the facility and must be accompanied by parent or legal guardian at all times . Proof of age will be required at time of membership registration.

Discounts will apply to members who choose to utilize our direct deposit service:
Single membership: $27.00 monthly
Couple membership: $45.00 monthly
Family membership: $49.50 monthly

Questions? Please email us at cubahometownfitness@gmail.com

Coming down the home stretch

Time seems to be flying by this week. It seems like there is not enough time to get everything in before we are exhausted. I think it's going to be a few late nights leading up to opening day. I keep forgetting to add that Eugene is also taking a personal training course. When he completes the course in December he can take the exam to become a certified personal trainer. That is definitely something we wanted to be sure we did for our own professional growth as well as ways to work better with our members.

Exercise has not always been a natural habit for us so we can certainly identify with people coming to a fitness center for the first time. It's important to understand how to use equipment correctly and safely. We have both used a personal trainer and really felt the benefit of working out with a program that has been designed just for you. So, once he is certified we will certainly offer personal training for members. I hope to take the course and become a trainer also. Right now my full time job just takes away too much time for me to fit it in.

Tonight Eugene has been installing surveillance and security. We are still waiting for the cable and internet to get connected and will be installing an indoor driving net. Members will be able to keep up with their golf swing all winter with the Pro-Supreme golf net.

Still no word on an ab machine, hoping we will hear something from the great connections we have out looking for it. As soon as we hear about one we'll be sure to work to get it here fast. I'm hoping to post hours and rates tomorrow so come back for the latest update as the countdown begins.

Sorry I'm getting behind

There are clearly not enough hours in the day. I guess that's why a 24 hour gym as a business is a good thing for us. Since our last post even more progress was made. We officially took over the equipment and business on Tuesday. Some of you may have noticed some subtle changes. We've been in tidying up and gave all of the machines a good cleaning as well as leaving spray bottles and cleaner (environmentally friendly of course) for members to clean before or after each use. A water dispenser and scale are a couple of other new additions. The plan will be to encourage members to stay hydrated as well filling their own water bottles. We really would like to do little things to reduce our carbon footprint.

As I write this the security/surveillance system is being put together and should be installed tomorrow. The 24 hour access system will be up and ready for our officially opening on Monday, September 29. Yes, that is only 5 days away! We will post the hours we plan to have the facility staffed in the next couple of days so members can renew or join on the 29th. An official "grand opening" is in the works for the coming weeks.

That's it for today, more to come tomorrow.

Coming soon

The weekend proved to be very productive. We ordered the security system and key-less entry system and await their arrival. We also hope to have cable and internet installed in the next week. Eugene plans on spending the end of the week sprucing up the space and hopes to brighten up things a bit. Our insurance payment was made and now we are waiting for the lease. We are keeping the current Nautilus system for now but still looking for an ab machine. Let us know if there is something you'd like to see us bring in.

Our official opening date is planned for September 29. In the coming days we hope to be able to post our hours and plan for an official "grand opening." Current members can continue to use the facilities and we will notify you when the key-less entry is going to be installed.

If you are interested in joining please email us at cubahometownfitness@gmail.com.

Keep 'em coming

Calls of encouragement continue to come in. It is great to hear so many people who are glad the fitness center is staying open. We should find out the verdict on internet and cable tomorrow. We are also working on finding the appropriate access system and installation of the security and surveillance system. Everything is on schedule and we hope to make the transition seamless for current members. So, keep 'em coming we are looking forward to meeting everyone in person.

Each day one step closer.

Today was a real work day, not for me, but Eugene. The entire day was dedicated to driving around the Buffalo area to gather various necessities for the business. Looking at equipment, purchasing security surveillance, television purchases, and a multitude of phone calls bring us one step closer to our opening day goal. The ab machine was sold before we knew about this opportunity. We felt since it is such a popular and well used machine we need to get one in immediately. So that will be our first piece of "new" equipment. The first of many to come in the next year we hope! Our lease agreement is in the works. The possibility of internet, cable and phone connection provided by the local cable company is being looked into. They have to come look around the building to see if they can do it. Keep your fingers crossed, high-speed internet is vital for a 21st Century Business .

We are so pleased with the response we have already gotten from past and current members who are telling us they plan on joining. It's amazing when you think of how technology allows us to market our business and keep people informed. This blog for instance serves as reassurance (I hope) that we will re-open the fitness center and our customers will know exactly when that will happen.

I think we (Southwestern New Yorkers) have become cynical when it comes to economic growth. We have been let down so many times. We hear about amazing business ventures that are going to build up our economy, only to see them get totally demolished or held up in so much political red tape they lose momentum and interest fades. That's why it's so important for us to share this information. We are making it happen, step by step, one step closer.

It's official

As of today we are officially Hometown Fitness. Yesterday when we began the blog we had attempted, well Eugene had attempted, to get our business license. A little bit of breakdown in communication led to an adventure for Eugene and the girls. In the end the girls got to run around the Allegany County Office of Development and Eugene was able to connect with the nice folks at the Allegany County Business Center in the Crossroads building. So our business license was delayed a bit. We did make sure the name was available so we could at least start this blog and create a logo.

Using a simple site called Vista Print that offers business related materials we created clean logo that symbolizes what we are about. It was pretty inexpensive and allowed us to order some start up promotional materials. We'd rather to put our money towards updating the fitness center than to spend a fortune on graphic designs. I'm pretty happy with what we came up with. I think it looks good, clean and simple. We watch a lot of HGTV and always connect with designers that follow that same philosophy, so Vern Yip would be very happy. Here it is let us know what you think.

So things are moving along nicely as we look towards a projected opening date of around the beginning of October. We should have a firm date to post soon. We meet with the insurance company on Monday and still need to negotiate rent with the owner of the building. In addition to that we have to install the security system and 24 hour access locks. Oh, and working with the local cable to establish a business internet, phone and cable connection. After all we are trying to be high tech so the need to be properly wired is a necessity, at least for me. That's it for today. Hopefully new and exciting updates to come.

A 21st century business begins using 21st century tools.

Welcome to the Hometown Fitness blog. We wanted an opportunity to share information with everyone interested in our entrepreneurial endeavor.

As long time residents and Cuba Central Alumnus (Eugene,'89) and Katie, '90) we are interested in the revitalization and perhaps even growth of this town. When we learned the local fitness center was closing our interest in fitness and in keeping businesses in Cuba we decided to begin this exciting journey.

We will post daily where we are in the process, trials and tribulations, and opportunities for you, our readers and consumers, to comment.

So our journey begins.....