Wellness Class Charter Member Remains an Inspiration
Story and photos by Craig Reed
Finding Jayne Freadman on Tuesday and Thursday mornings is easy. Just visit the activity room at Umpqua Community Center.
Jayne is a charter member of the wellness classes that began in October 1995. She rarely misses a class, although now at age 92, it’s understandable if anything occasionally interrupts her routine.
“It makes me do something, for one thing,” she says of driving herself the 5 miles from her home to the class. “Otherwise, I’d just be sitting on my fanny at home and reading.”
Rikke Stormberg, the certified class instructor since 1996, says Jayne is an inspiration to the other 12 class participants. They are all younger than Jayne, but most are in their golden years. Seeing her tenacity shows them the possibilities for fitness at every stage of life.
“We call it a wellness class,” Rikke says. “We’re moving the whole time. We focus on stretching and using light weights and resistance bands to help the bones.”
The exercises are done while participants sit on a chair or stand next to one so they can hold on to reset their balance.
Rikke says the late Helen Fischer was another inspiration to others. Helen exercised in the class beyond her 100th birthday and lived until 104. She died in 2024. A bench outside the activity room reminds the participants of Helen’s determination to exercise and stay as active as possible.
Jayne isn’t one to speak up to encourage others, but she’s front and center in the class where others can see her participate.
“She’s an inspiration, just as Helen was,” Rikke says. “She came in even after a car accident (2 years ago). Her recovery from knee surgery (8 years ago) was so much faster because she’s been active. When you live out here in a rural area, it’s easy to hunker down at home. It’s important to get out for both your physical and social health.”
While Rikke leads the class in movements with 2-to-6-pound weights, there is constant chatter from the participants, moving from one subject to another during the hour.
Jayne likes to walk outside on days with no class and when the weather allows. She also occasionally uses a recumbent bike at home.
“I think the class has kept me going,” Jayne admits. “I have no doubt I’d be a lot worse off if not for exercising.”
Rikke says others who say they can’t exercise or say they’re too old to do it and just want to watch TV is a bad mindset.
Jayne agrees.
“You don’t want to go there,” she says. In addition to exercising, the group meets at the nearby Lighthouse Center Bakery and Café after their Thursday sessions for more socializing. A Christmas party is an annual social activity. A few years ago, the group walked the 2 miles around Ford’s Pond.
“You need to keep moving,” Rikke says. “You really cannot afford to stop moving. If you do, you’ll pay for it.”
While the class attracts mostly women, it is open to men, too. A few husbands and male friends have attended over the years.
The cost is $3 a class. There is no cost for YMCA members.
Jayne and Rikke say another benefit for the class members is that they look out for each other. When a regular doesn’t show up, a class member makes a phone call or a personal visit to check on the person. Over the years, that has helped several people who had fallen at home get back on their feet.
Jayne lives on property that has been in her family since 1964, when her parents, Fred and Myrtle Stone, bought 117 acres. The homes of both her daughter and granddaughter are nearby in case Jayne needs assistance.
Jayne says she will continue to exercise as long as possible because her goal in life is not to get Alzheimer’s disease.
“My grandmother, mother, and brother had it, and I don’t want it,” she says. So, at 92, Jayne continues to lift those light weights, stretch the resistance bands, and stay on the move.