Even in a town as big as Waldoboro, it’s hard to avoid community service. Katie Deabler started when she was a young child, accompanying her father Clint Collamore at town meetings. By middle school, she was helping out on election days. In high school, she joined band, sang in her church chorus, played team basketball as well as track and field, and qualified for the National Honor Society – all while also working at Hannaford’s, first as a cashier, then as a bookkeeper. She earned a degree in Mental Health and Human Services. She married Daren Deabler. She had her children, Jasmine and Drake. She tried many different things from working with dogs to managing small businesses to find her purpose. It was when she served as program coordinator for RSU 40’s adult education program that she felt that sense of service return. There, she learned to teach and plan students’ growth. And then, she discovered fitness.
I wanted no part of group fitness when I first started working out. We were in the old Taction building, with my class, which was working out on machines, on one side, and the fitness class on the other. And even though they always looked like they were having fun and inviting me to join, I always shook my head and said no. It was all the things we tell ourselves when we’re not sure of what we’re doing: “I don’t think I’m good enough.” “I can’t keep up.” “I’ll look stupid.”
Well, one day, I must have had a good day, and I said, “Alright. I’ll try it.”
I fell in love with group fitness. I loved how everyone was connected to each other. And I loved that it was a judgement-free zone. Most of the time I didn’t know my left from my right. I loved the encouragement. So, I kept going, and I started to realize how great my body felt.
One day, I thought, “I wonder if I could teach one of these classes.” I learned I needed to take what’s called the Group Fitness Instructor Certification, a series of classes about all the different muscles of the body – how they work, what they do, how to strengthen them, and what not to do. And then, the different types of modifications that you need to offer people. I learned how to count correctly and how to cue a class correctly. And how to teach all different levels because there’s so many different bodies in a room. You really have to be paying attention.
I started teaching a few strength-training classes which I liked because, while cardio is very important, I’m more of a slow-pace person.
One day I was approached by a local woman from a physical therapist’s office who asked, “Do you have any interest in teaching a senior fitness class?”
I said, “Well, it’s not really my thing, but why don’t I watch?”
It blew my mind how much people in their 70s, 80s and 90s could do! There were people in their 80s lifting a 3-lb. dumbbell in correct form! And I started to imagine how I could make a less intense version of one of the classes I was already teaching. And how I could incorporate a little movement and balance. I agreed to do teach a class or two.
I also got certified to teach fitness to older adults because I thought I wanted to do more of that. And you don’t want slips, trips, or falls. You really have to be mindful and making sure your members are safe. So, I learned about age-appropriate modifications that I could make for different movements. And how the side effects of different medications, such as blood thinners, can really impact movement.
Around that time, I also realized how few offerings there were for that age group. There was nothing local, and folks of that age don’t want to drive to Rockland or Wiscasset for a fitness class. There was a real need, and I thought, “Geez, this is something I should really work with.”
Then COVID happened. Everything shut down. So, I fine-tuned my knowledge and took more classes. I studied yoga. And when everything opened, I returned to teaching, just like before.
But as I got to know my older members, I started listening to their stories and finding out about their lives. That was when I realized that for many, my classes were their single social time. And that broke my heart. Right then, I decided to focus on that population.
I put all my energy into it. I named my classes “Aging Gracefully.” I looked for a home and asked everywhere. I found it inside Broad Bay Congregational. I wanted to make my classes to be financially accessible because a lot of my people were on fixed income. When you’re living on social security, the $5 that I charge is too much. And that made me think, what if insurance could pay for their classes? So, I got in touch with United Healthcare, Aetna, Martin’s Point, Medicare, Anthem, and so on. I jumped through a million hoops. It was a paperwork nightmare. But I kept thinking, “It’s preventative care!”
Well, once a month I do billing to all the companies, and I get reimbursed about $2 per class per person. Fortunately, I am the manager of Good Things Thrift and Craft Shop, which I love and am grateful for. But for anyone without a full-time job like mine, you can’t make a living at it. I think that’s why a lot of people don’t do this.
My very first class for seniors was on June 6, 2023. I had six people. Now we have around 22, mostly women. It’s like having a room of grandparents. And it’s a dance party every week. We start with cardio, marching in place, or doing kicks to the front, kicks to the back, and a lot of forward and back. We do side-to-side movement which helps with range of motion. With weights – and now some people have worked all the way up to an 8 lb. handweight — we do strength training. Lastly, we move into balance exercises because that is fall-prevention, and a lot of people live alone.
We work to the beat. I play disco, and our favorite song is by the Village People, “Y.M.C.A.” with Aretha Franklin’s “Respect” right behind. And that’s how class ends.
After class and in class, I see people making friendships, friendships they otherwise might not have had. Sometimes, people will go out for coffee. They’ll sit on a bench and just talk together. I see how everyone cares for one another, how concerned they are for each other. It’s a community that they’ve made. And that is exactly what I wanted!
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