Cameron Wellness to celebrate anniversary
Karen Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Ted Sikora, a charter member, uses weights as part of his fitness routine at the Wilfred R. Cameron Wellness Center in this file photo from March.
Pictured is the gym at the Wilfred R. Cameron Wellness Center. The center is celebrating its 20th anniversary.
Courtesy WHS Washington Hospital
Mike Ardeno lost 130 pounds and was able to eliminate nearly all of his medications after joining the Wilfred R. Cameron Fitness Center and working with a trainer.
Karen Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Karen Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Debbie Roytas, executive director of the wellness center, presents Ted Sikora with a T-shirt proclaiming he is officially 100 years old in this file photo from March.
Wilfred R. Cameron Wellness Center is turning 20 on Oct. 1, and the fitness center had planned to mark that milestone with a variety of celebrations.
But those plans have been scrapped, as the wellness center has turned its attention to remaining open and offering as many classes and other services as it can amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We wanted to take this time to say thank you. We were excited about the opportunity to show our appreciation, but we knew we really had to cancel these events for safety reasons and financial reasons,” said Debbie Roytas, executive director.
The wellness center had organized several anniversary celebration events, including a dinner reception for charter members, the Cameron family, and other original donors.
The wellness center is named in honor of Wilfred R. (Pete) Cameron, a Washington community leader and businessman, whose grandfather founded Cameron Beverages. In 1999, Pete Cameron donated $5 million to Washington Hospital – the largest single gift ever given to the hospital – in appreciation to the community that supported his family business for over 100 years.
The pandemic has had a “massive impact financially,” Roytas said, as well as an impact on the staff and members, and the classes the gym offers.
When the wellness center closed in March, 122 employees were furloughed (84 have since been brought back). The center, which used to offer 102 exercise classes, now offers 21. Among those suspended was an exercise class for Parkinson’s patients, which had grown in the short time since it started.
The gym reopened in June, and social distancing guidelines, including mask wearing, have been implemented.
Roytas said that despite the challenges, the goal remains helping people live more healthy and active lives.
The wellness center opened its doors on Oct. 1, 2000, and over the decades has expanded its services and added equipment to meet the needs of its members and community.
The heart of the center is its staff and members, said Roytas.
“We purposely hire people who are passionate about helping people,” said Roytas. “We become a part of our members’ lives. We’re like the “Cheers” of gyms. We want you to connect with us, we want you to feel comfortable, and we want to have the type of interaction with you that makes you want to come back.”
The wellness center offers state-of-the-art equipment, a variety of fitness classes, an aquatics program, nutrition, health and wellness programs, and physical therapy. It also houses Spa Harmony, which provides services including massage, facials, and nail treatment.
A large meeting room hosts groups ranging from the Rotary and the United Way to a postpartum depression group and Overeaters Anonymous.
Currently, about 2,000 members are active – although, Roytas noted, several have frozen their memberships amid the pandemic. The membership includes 200 charter members, who have remained at the gym for 20 years.
Among the charter members is Ted Sikora, who turned 100 years old in January and comes to the gym every day to work out.
“We’re like a second home for Ted. We love seeing him every day,” said Roytas. “It’s pretty awesome that 200 original members are still here, that they never left. When I think about all of the people who have come through these doors over the years, it’s unbelievable to think about all the lives we’ve touched – people who came for physical therapy after a cardiac event and then stayed – because we taught them a healthy lifestyle.”
Among those whose lives have been impacted is Mike Ardeno, who lost 130 pounds since he teamed up with trainer John Sandonas nearly two years ago.
Ardeno, who battled thyroid issues and Lyme disease for nearly a decade, weighed 313 pounds and couldn’t walk across a room without feeling exhausted. He used a combination of diet, exercise and training with Sandonas to achieve his current weight of about 183 pounds. He’s scheduled to participate in the Tough Mudder 5K next year.
“Getting a trainer is the smartest decision I ever made,” said Ardeno, 48. “John said you’re going to do a lot of things you don’t want to do, and I did it. I embraced a lot of the stuff I hated to do, but it’s important because you get results. There’s a science behind it. When I go to the gym now, there’s a mission, there’s a goal. I will always be a gym person. I love it so much. The gym, to me, is medicine.”
In fact, Ardeno went from 33 daily medications to one.
“I enjoy the wellness center. They offer so many things. You just have to walk in there and do them,” said Ardeno.
Roytas pointed out that she, like other employees, was a member before she was hired.
“I’ve worked at other places, but I love it here. Every day, there is such purpose here. That’s why we retain our staff, and that’s why people come here. Our mission is to upgrade lives. We want to help you. That’s why were are here.”