A 'Dam' Good Time In Boulder City

Travelling down the 215 and relying on MapQuest to guide me to my destination, I began to feel as if I was in a new world as I approached Boulder City. Squinting at my handwritten directions and proceeding to squint up ahead, I noticed that the blurry street sign in the distance resembled from afar what I was searching so intently for: Buchanan Blvd which would then lead me to Adam’s Blvd. The excitement was bubbling inside me so much while I traversed that all I could think about was the fact that I was about to experience my first Connect To Fitness event in the breath-taking Boulder City.


I arrived at 801 Adams Blvd (not without the help of Darian Parker, of course, who totally should take over the roll of MapQuest in the future), put my car into park and took a nice, deep breath of realization. I looked back at the past few months of my life living in Las Vegas, and just smiled as I became reminiscent of the progression I have watched unravel before my very own eyes in regards to my life and my career. In this moment, a passing thought crossed my mind of having been to Boulder City in my first weeks as an official resident of Las Vegas. Darian and I had come down to meet with Marcie Gibson who gave us her enthusiastic consent in holding an event for Connect To Fitness at one of the recreation centers located within the city. At the time I didn’t think that day could come soon enough! Well… here I was. Back in Boulder City. Back in action. And back with CTF.


Having arrived early and having been greeted by Darian (who arrived EXTRA early), I grabbed my belongings out of my car as Darian graciously took hold of the giant cooler filled to the brim with Tropical Smoothies out of my backseat. He told me in advance that I was going to love what I saw as I walked into the facility, but I still wasn’t prepared for what I was getting myself into. Before we walked into the doors of the facility, I could see people setting up tables through the sun-tainted windows, which were obviously trying to blind me. As I proceeded through the doors, my mind immediately reverted back in time to elementary school gym class while growing up in my small hometown. The sense of ‘home’ it instills within you and consumes you with is enough to give you goosebumps and to make you want to move in. Possibly forever.


After laying my things down atop the piano placed (ever-so-randomly and yet so perfectly) in the refreshment room, I really began to absorb my surroundings. In the square room were three long tables (loaded with colorful confetti!) lining the front and side walls, and a few fold-out chairs just like being back in school. As I traversed through the main lobby and into the gymnasium, I could already see the cones, basketballs, footballs, and tennis balls all stationed accordingly around the perimeter of the basketball court (as Tina said: not quite a whole basketball court, but bigger than a half court). I couldn’t believe it. I stared in awe, and looked at Darian and made some kind of predictable and excited exclamation that I still heard echoing five minutes after I made my outburst. “This is incredible!!!”, I believe were my words. The old brick walls without windows and painted an off-white/yellow color, the padded mats lining the walls for protection, and the oddly-modern, shiny, wood ceilings that were perfectly out of place. I. Loved. It.


We walked back out to the lobby and began to set up the front table in which we had our sign-in sheet, nametags and markers, and where we also laid out our Connect To Fitness donation box in which we are using to assimilate money for Making Strides Against Breast Cancer, which is the cause we have been actively involved with the past few months.


As Darian and I caught up a bit and basked in this incredible environment, Marcie Gibson (who supervises the main Fitness Center in Boulder City and who is incredibly active within her community) and a couple friends pulled up and popped the lid of the truck and out poured never-ending food. There was a HUGE fruit tray as well as an equally proportioned vegetable tray, there was a varied cheese tray, a big bag of dark, plump grapes, crackers of all kinds, cookies, and an enormous tray of veggie and cheese wraps that weighed as much as I do. Oh… and don’t forget the smoothies.


Shortly after having arrived myself, the always delightful and inspiring Heather Doane arrived with Crayola Markers, construction paper and, of course, folder to keep it all in. We were in mission mode. Quickly (but creatively) constructing signs detailing the games we had set up in the gym, we caught up for a bit and finished setting everything up. Just as we were finishing, Charles and Hannah Ware arrived with yet another cooler; this time loaded with bottled water and all varieties of Vitamin Water. He also came bearing gifts, as the Professional Fitness Institute always donates amazing prizes for our event giveaways. Shortly after that, more guests began arriving and within no time flat the echoes heard in the gym were reverberating all throughout the building. It was fantastic to see the familiar and faithful faces of those who are continually at each event supporting CTF, networking and enjoying each other’s company and it was just as awesome to get acquainted with the new faces from both the Vegas Valley as well as Boulder City. There were some really incredible people who arrived and it was great to mingle and make connections with each person who walked through the door.


Besides the array of amazing food we had to share, the other main attraction was the ‘game room’, where Darian and Marcie meticulously set up some fun games where guests could pay to play, as well as donate, money to our cause at the same time. We had a basketball free-throw contest, a tennis-ball toss, and a football throw where you had to manage to throw a football into a plastic bin in the front of the gymnasium. As people began piling in, it was extremely reminiscent of gym class and being a kid again, and it had a sort of carnival feel to it that was just awesome. As people played the games, others were shouting encouragement from the sidelines inbetween conversation or between snacking. It was really inspiring to see and it was fun watching the ‘crowd’ cheer the players on as they focused intently on making each toss or free throw. As I made my rounds in greeting everyone, I admit I couldn’t help but to snack myself each time I’d walk by the table. The food was immaculate and plentiful and we had an ample amount (and then some!) for the guests to stack mile-high plates.


About an hour into the event, we had our first prize giveaway, which came from Advantage Fitness Products (AFP), which was an awesome Travel-Trainer (if you don’t own or know of this great product and you are a trainer, you should definitely check it out!). The winner of this prize is always shocked at how awesome it is once they receive it, and it’s always a joy to see the faces of the winners. Another fifteen minutes went by and we gave out the last two prizes, donated by the Professional Fitness Institute (PFI), which consisted of two PFI logo backpacks loaded with more great accolades inside. It’s always a treat, as well, to give such great prizes to such great people.


After the final prize giveaway and after everyone was done playing games in the gymnasium, we began to tear everything down as people slowly began filing out the doors. We folded and stacked all the chairs and tables, put away the gym equipment and set the building up exactly how it was before we arrived. All the leftover food was happily carried away by guests and staff members and you could see and hear people were exchanging business cards and information before leaving.


As I was looking around towards the end, I took in another deep breath and just smiled to myself as another successful event had just taken place. The work that goes on behind-the-scenes is often time-consuming and a lot of work, but always, ALWAYS worth it. It has been our great fortune to have the opportunity to meet with so many amazing individuals on a monthly and daily basis through CTF and each month, and each day, there just seems to be more people reaching out and getting involved. I stood there and thought about the last week as well in which I have had the amazing opportunity of meeting with some absolutely fantastic professionals in the health, wellness and fitness industry who expressed interest in contributing for the CTF Magazine publication out in 2010. Words cannot even begin to explain the inspiration I received from these individuals as well as the excitement for having them on the CTF team. So many of my own dreams have come true as a result of CTF and it’s such a great feeling when you view and help other people reach their own dreams and aspirations through the organization as well. If you haven’t yet become an active member, now is a great time to join in as we are truly growing by leaps and bounds and the opportunities for professionals that we have to offer are growing as well. The gratitude from knowing we are helping to contribute to job-placement is just incredible and we are currently establishing a system that will be even more efficient at this process.


As I looked around and my mind travelled back to the hear and now, I picked up my belongings (and my twelve thousand Ziplock bags), and carried them out to my car while Charles rolled out the cooler of the few leftover smoothies. As I said ‘Goodbye’ to the rest of the CTF staff and remaining friends, I felt overwhelmed with great fortune as the event replayed itself in my mind and I was able to just sit in my car and let the gratitude wash over me.


As I drove out back towards Adam’s Blvd., I caught a glimpse of Marcie was pulling her car over, and getting out of her vehicle to pick up a sign on the side of the road that had fallen down. It reminded me just how big-hearted so many of the people are that I have met and how people who are passionate about being in this profession are typically the ones to do not just the big things in life to make the world a better place, but the little things as well, such as picking up a fallen sign off the side of the road. I couldn’t imagine being a better industry and surrounding myself with better people. Having moved out to Vegas, one thing I can attest for is the amount of positive energy so many people in this industry possess.

Thank you to all who came out, donated, and showed support for both CTF and Making Strides For Breast Cancer. Thank you as well for our amazing sponsors, both AFT and PFI for donating some amazing products to share with those at the event. We raised a significant amount of money with your help, and just as I mentioned above, it’s these little things that help create a balance in life and which help to improve and impact other’s lives around you. I hope that you will also join us in walking for this cause in October and that you will continue to hold our hands through this journey we like to call Connect To Fitness.


As I drove away from Boulder City, I once again came back to reality and began to plan in my mind for the rest of my evening, as well as for what lies ahead. All the while, I was filled with the feeling of accomplishment which in turn led me to reaffirm my ‘belief’ into ‘knowledge’ that anything we set our minds to in life is possible. Because it is.


Thank you again, Faithful Reader and Follower, and until next time…


“When we seek to discover the best in others, we somehow bring out the best in ourselves.”
-William A Ward


“One of the things I keep learning is that the secret of being happy is doing things for other people.” - Dick Gregory


“There is no exercise better for the heart than reaching down and lifting people up.” - John Andrew Holmes Jr., American writer and minister