Augie In Action! Augie In Action! - Ihrsa

Jeff Hall Photography
Obama at Hampshire Dome
Exercising Bipartisan
Politics in New Hampshire
Health club stages events for both Democratic and Republican parties
During the last presidential race,
the Hampshire Dome, a 96,000square-foot
structure adjacent to
the Hampshire Hills Sports & Fitness
Club in Milford, New Hampshire, didn’t
even exist. It was built just a little over
two years ago.
But, during the current presidential
proceedings, it became the site, on
January 4, of the single largest Democratic
Party fund-raising dinner ever held
in the state. Hosting nearly 3,600 people,
the $100-and-up per plate event raised
more than $400,000.
Presidential hopefuls in attendance
included Senators Hillary Clinton
and Barack Obama, Congressman
Dennis Kucinich, and New Mexico
Governor Bill Richardson (Senator
John Edwards didn’t attend). Former
President Bill Clinton, New Hampshire
Governor John Lynch, and Democratic
National Committee Chairman
Howard Dean also appeared at
the fund-raiser.
“Bill Clinton told me this is one of
the neatest facilities he’s ever been in,”
reports Rick Holder, who owns both the
117,000-square-foot Hampshire Hills
club and the Hampshire Dome.
That same weekend, on Sunday, the
Republican Party took up residence
next door, at the Hampshire Hills club,
attracting some 1,000 people for a
closed debate, followed by a brunch
and speeches.
Holder originally built the dome to
service members “in a way they hadn’t
been serviced before,” he explains. “We
had plenty of outdoor fields, bike trails,
and tracks, but none of those indoors;
the Hampshire Dome gave us facilities
in a protected, indoor environment.”
With its 70-foot-high ceiling, the
Hampshire Dome encompasses a
remarkable 5.5 million cubic feet of
space. While the structure—the largest
configurable space in the state—was
designed to provide additional opportunities
for club members, it’s wound up serving
the entire community in some unique
ways. “We’ve been able to go beyond
just what we do within the industry,”
Holder observes. “I built the dome to
offer activities and space that no other
club could provide, and, now, we’re a
huge source of pride for our community
because nonmembers can also participate
in fun activities—like walking, riding
bikes, etc.—on an à la carte basis.”
| News & Know How | News
Exercising
is Still a
Great IDEA
> To mark its silver anniversary,
the IDEA Health & Fitness Association
spotlighted the 25 most
significant health benefits associated
with physical activity and exercise.
Among them:
• Long-term participation in
aerobic exercise lowers the risk
of cardiovascular disease, the
leading health-related cause
of mortality among men
and women.
• Moderate-intensity aerobic
exercise, for 30-60 minutes,
three to five times a week, reduces
elevated blood pressure levels.
• Those who are moderately
active have a 20% lower risk of
stroke; those with high activity
levels have a 27% lower risk.
• Men and women who are
physically active have a 30%-40%
reduced risk of colon cancer, as
opposed to those who are inactive.
• Weight-bearing and resistance
exercises that help to promote
bone growth can reduce the
effects of osteoporosis.
• Low-impact aerobic exercise on
a consistent basis has been shown
to improve joint mobility and functional
ability in arthritis sufferers.
• Fitness has also proven to be
an effective means of stressmanagement
and has positive
psychological benefits for people
who suffer from depression. —|
For the complete list of benefits,
> .com visit www.ideafit.com.
www.ihrsa.org | MARCH 2008 | Club Business International 31