Monday, March 26, 2012

In which I visit Shirlee's Fitness Club for Women (but it's OK)

On occasion I have to begin my blog posts with an FCC-suggested disclosure statement, usually related to my employment. But today I must start with a more basic disclosure.

DISCLOSURE: I AM NOT A WOMAN.

Ordinarily this fact would not make a lot of difference, but in this case it affects my background knowledge about a fitness club for women.

But let me back up a bit.

Last year, The Spa Fitness Club for Women suddenly closed without warning, adversely affecting the many people who had paid for memberships and other services at the club. There aren't a lot of women-only fitness clubs in the area, so the closure of The Spa definitely left a void.

As Sandra Emerson noted in a February 3rd Daily Bulletin article, someone stepped in to fill that void.

Gary Peterson, lessor of the property at 1275 W. Foothill Blvd., has been working on renovating the fitness club for several months since it closed abruptly in October....

Peterson is no stranger to the women's fitness club. He purchased the business in 1982 when it was [Shirle's] Fitness Center. He renamed it Spa Fitness for Women and made several changes to the two-acre facility, including the addition of the cabanas, an extended workout room and an area for boot camp.

Peterson has renamed the business "Shirlee's," which is an acronym for the club's philosophy: "Strengthen, Hearten, Inspire, Restore, Love, Encourage, Empower and Support."


Peterson has been reaching out to the former members of The Spa, and I was there on Sunday when he spent an hour with one of the former members, answering her questions.

Peterson has taken the opportunity to perform some major structural work on the facility, including the flooring and the roof. As you will recall, it was raining pretty hard on Sunday, but there were no roof leaks in any of the buildings - and from what I understand, that's a significant improvement.

Since I am not a woman, I had never seen the entire facility before - I had never gotten any farther than the front desk. So I can't tell you exactly what changes are being made over the former facility configuration. However, I did gather that the new facility will be ADA-friendly, and it sounds like the new configuration will offer some new opportunities for the members.

There's still some more work to be done, and an opening date has not been officially set, but if you want to get updated information, you can go to Shirlee's website (http://shirlees.com/), its Facebook page, or the @Shirleesfitness Twitter page.

And if you're thinking about joining, I can assure that you once the facility reopens, I'll probably never be going in there again. But maybe Sandra Emerson will go in there and tell you more.

Shirlee's will be located at 1275 W. Foothill Boulevard, Upland, CA 91786.


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Monday, March 19, 2012

Classic.

Remember the Carbon Canyon Chronicle?

It recently posted an item with the title California Conservation Corps Crews Continue Carbon Canyon Creek Cleanup.

C?

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Do you see green in the IE?

David Allen links to the IEShineOn blog, noting that it offers a number of St. Patrick's Day tips.

Allen wasn't kidding.

This post alone lists 12 IE events from Pomona to Temecula, and this post lists another 19.

As for me, I'm going to two private events, one with family, and one with people from my BBS days.

Friday, March 16, 2012

Graber Olive House honored by the local dude

Every fall, I try to remember to go to Graber Olive House during the canning season. Every fall, I fail to go to Graber Olive house during the canning season. Granted, it's still nice to go there at any time of the year.

Gary Ovitt went to Graber Olive House in early March, but he had a purpose in doing so, according to Liset Marquez.

San Bernardino County Supervisor Gary Ovitt honored the company as his February Small Business of the Month because of the impact the family-owned enterprise has had on the community.

Of course, Ovitt is familiar with Graber's business. Not too long ago, he worked just down the street from Graber Olive House, over at Chaffey High School.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

False excitement about the Ontario Wal-Mart Supercenter

The press release title was certainly promising.

Ontario Wal-Mart Supercenter Celebrates Grand Opening

Store’s impact seen in 255 new jobs, benefits and $19,000 in charitable donations


And the first paragraph also included some promising words:

Creating 255 new jobs and focusing on charitable support and every day low prices, the ... Wal-Mart Supercenter in Ontario will celebrate its grand opening at 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday, July 20. Doors will open at 8 a.m.

But there are two problems.

First, this is a 2005 press release.

Second, this is not for Ontario, California. It's for Ontario, Ohio.

But there's encouraging words for those of us out here also. I had thought that the Wal-Mart was a done deal, but Liset Marquez set me straight with her March 5 Inland Valley Daily Bulletin article:

After years of litigation and more than $1 million spent in attorney fees, a dispute over an environmental report related to the building of a Wal-Mart Supercenter in this city has finally drawn to a close.
The seven-year battle ended when an attorney for Ontario Mountain Village Association - a group of residents who have opposed the building of the facility at the northwest corner of Mountain Avenue and Fifth Street - dropped the last appeal involving the case.

Attorney Cory Briggs said he decided against appealing an October court decision that only rewarded him $54,000 for court fees.


Read the rest here.

Do you want to know how long this story has gone on? When I initially started talking about my parody "Ontario Vineyard Village Association" several years ago, I joked that the OVVA was located in a high-rise building in Guasti.

Today, there actually ARE high-rise buildings in Guasti. OK, maybe none of them has a 25th floor - yet - but as long as the planes don't hit them, a 25-story Guasti building could be in our future.