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September Vibe

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Annual Shutdown

Thanks so much for your patience as we closed the club for our Annual BAC Shutdown. We started on Wednesday August 21st, with draining and cleaning the pool, then a crew of 5 resurfacing it on Thursday.  On Friday we moved to the main part of the club, replacing the ceiling tiles, and lights throughout.  All carpets were cleaned.  In the women’s locker room, we finished carpet and cove base, then deep cleaned all areas.  Racquetball courts were painted and cleaned.  All wet areas were scrubbed and scrubbed again.  All cardio and weight machines were cleaned and dusted.  The parking lot was striped, and the potholes were filled.  Whew!  That was a very busy and long weekend of work for our excellent staff.

Please come in and check out our refurbished club and be sure to thank our crew led by Brian Porter, Mike Locke, and Kellie McBeath.

We are looking forward to filling the pool Friday the 30th, then heating and balancing the chemicals over the weekend, with the pool opening for use on Labor Day September 2nd.

Cathy, Brian and McKenzie

 

Racquetball League

This is your last chance to sign up for Fall Racquetball League! Sign up by Thursday, September 5th at the front desk. The league will start September 11th and will run through November 3rd. Playoffs will be November 10th. There will be one match a week on Wednesdays, but matches can be rescheduled with your opponent if needed. There are divisions for Advanced, Intermediate, and Beginner players. Membership is not required.

If you haven’t played racquetball before but want to learn, we have a beginner racquetball clinic on Saturday, September 7 from 10am-11am. This is free for members. Sign up online or at the front desk.

 

Employee Spotlight: Tish O’Keefe

Hi, I’m Tish O’Keefe and I have been with the Bellingham Athletic Club since 2019.  I teach Water Aerobic Classes and Private Swim Lessons here at BAC. I have been involved with Aquatics most of my life as an Aquatic Director, Swim lesson Instructor and Swim Lesson Instructor trainer, Infant Swimming Resource Instructor, USA Swim Coach, and Water Fitness Instructor and Trainer.

When not in the water, I play the flute in several local groups, volunteer for two dog rescue groups, teach CPR and First Aid Classes, and teach Adult Fitness classes on land. (I am experienced with teaching Silver Sneakers, Enhanced Fitness, and Arthritis Foundation Land Classes)

I enjoy music, walking, reading, spending time with friends, and sharing life with my husband and our two rescue dogs.

August Vibe

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Annual Club Closure

It’s time for our annual Club Shutdown for maintenance. The whole club will be closed from August 23rd-25th. Be sure to mark that on your calendar. Swimmers beware! The pool will be closed for an extended period of time so we can resurface the pool, then allow the surface to cure. We did not shut the pool down for resurfacing last year, so we need to be sure to get the process done properly. So, the pool will be closed from August 21st through September 1st. Thanks everyone for your patience as we do a ton of work in a very short time span. We’ll be painting, carpet cleaning, and redoing upholstery. Additionally exterior painting and ceiling repair, wall and cove base repair, parking lot repair and striping, and in general, a reorganization of the Bellingham Athletic Club space. We hate interrupting your well-established routine, but much needs to be done that cannot be accomplished while members are present.

Cathy, Brian and McKenzie

Check-In Challenge

Thank you to all of the members that participated in the Check-In Challenge this year! We had even more participation than last year. Congratulations to the 4 weekly winners: Steve Smith, Meg Fallows, Brooke Minkler, and Shana Axelson.
Thank you to the following local businesses that generously donated prizes for the challenge:
Washington Wind Sports, Gruff Brewing Co., Tony’s Coffee, Fairhaven Runners & Walkers, Whatcom Sports and Recreation, North Bellingham Golf Course, Kellie McBeath, Park Bowl, Entheos Massage, Whatcom Edge, James K. Papp

Member Spotlight: Steve Galloway

I am Steve(n) Galloway. I was raised in SW Washington. I attended Northwest Nazarene College (now University) in Nampa, Idaho, earning an Elementary Education Degree. I taught for 41 years in Boise and Mountain Home, Idaho. 30 of those years, I also taught Adult Sunday School. I retired to move to Bellingham so that my wife could care for her mother. We have 3 living daughters within 20 minutes of our house and 2 sons (one in Montana and one in Idaho). Currently there are 9 grandchildren with one more due in December. Hobbies include playing table games, watching action/adventure and comedy shows on TV, and solving KenKen and Sudoku puzzles. I have participated in many different sports. I focus on Handball and Pickleball at BAC. Come join us!!!

July Vibe

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Join Us For BAC Night at the Bells!

BAC night at the Bellingham Bells game is happening on Wednesday, July 24 at 6:35pm.

Enjoy an evening of baseball and come support our members that will be involved. Dave Wilbur will be throwing the first pitch, John Ruth and his quartet will be singing the US National Anthem, and Meg Fallows will be singing the Canadian National Anthem!

Free tickets for the July 24th game will be available at the front desk starting the week of July 8th!

 

July Check-In Challenge

Each time you check into Bellingham Athletic Club from July 1st-July 31st, you can fill out an entry to be eligible to win our weekly and grand prizes!

Weekly winners will be drawn each Monday, and the grand prize winner will be announced Thursday, August 1st!

Sponsors:

Washington Wind Sports
Gruff Brewing Co.
Tony’s Coffee
Walton Beverage
Kellie McBeath
Whatcom Sports and Recreation

  

Fairhaven Runners & Walkers
North Bellingham Golf Course
Park Bowl
Entheos Massage
Whatcom Edge
James K. Papp

 

June Vibe

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Bellingham Bells

Mark your calendar! BAC night at the Bells is Wednesday, July 24. Do you love to sing? Love baseball? We are looking for one or two people
to sing the U.S.A national anthem and/or the Canadian national anthem. If you are interested, please reach out to Brian or McKenzie!

Courtesy Corner

THANKS!!! BAC members are the best! Our membership has been very generous in support of Hope House. We have been able to give 15 bins of items to this wonderful charity. Every time we ask our membership to support those less fortunate in our community, you come through with wonderful and thoughtful donations. Way to go BAC! I also want to thank the swimmers for stepping up and responding to our request to cancel their swim lanes, we have been able to reallocate the lanes to other members. Also, our membership has curtailed the use of cell phones in the locker rooms. Thanks so much for reflecting the caring attitude of our BAC community!
Thanks for your cooperation!
Cathy, Brian, Kellie and McKenzie

Staff Spotlight
Avery Hamby

Hello! My name is Avery and I am so excited to be taking over as the new Kids Club Supervisor! I have been at BAC as a kids club attendant and front desk staff for nearly 6 months now and have thoroughly enjoyed my experience thus far. I joined BAC just after graduating from WWU in Fall of 2023 with my Bachelors of Arts in Education. When I am not at BAC, you can find me hiking, hammocking or reading comfortably at home. Childcare and education is a passion of mine, and I am looking forward to using my skills in the subject to further reach the goals of our Kids Club.

Inclement Weather Policy

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For the safety and well-being of all those concerned, our weather policy is as follows:

When the Bellingham Public Schools are closed due to weather, BAC will be open with a skeleton staff, but there will be no classes or appointments.

When the Bellingham Public Schools are delayed, BAC will be open, but there will be no A.M. classes or appointments.

In the event of extreme weather, we may find it necessary to close the club. Please check the website, social media, call in, or listen to your local radio station for information. This is a very rare occurrence but is sometimes necessary for the safety of our members and employees.

During the Bellingham Public School weekends training days and Holiday break: December 21st-January 5th, you will need to go to our website to get the updates.  In general, we start checking the weather at about 4:00 am and make the call by 4:30 am.  We make every effort to get staff in to open the clubs on time, but please be patient.  Brian Porter and Cathy Buckley usually are making the rounds picking staff up and transporting them into the clubs.  The purpose of our policy is to not put staff in danger and to keep unnecessary cars off the roads until the snowplows and sanders can make the rounds.  Thanks for your patience during weather events.

Annual Club Closure Information

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We hope you are enjoying your final weeks of summer, but please be aware that our annual club closure is approaching.

Sunday, August 28th the whole club will be closed just for one day.

Sunday, August 28th through Monday, September 5th the pool will be closed for refinishing. Look for the pool to reopen after Labor Day on Tuesday, September 6th. Remember the pool can tend to be a bit cooler on the first days of reopening.

I think we are getting our feet under us, as we have better learned our way around our new Antaris software, we will also have some updates from them that will enable us to better serve you.

Swim Lessons will start up again following our pool shutdown on September 6th. Signups for those in lessons begin on August 18th, and open to the public on August 23. Call the Front Desk to enroll.

Thanks to everyone for your patience with our software conversion, we are glad to be past the hardest part of the learning curve!

New Club Management Software

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As if we didn’t have enough change this Spring, our Club management system is migrating from CSI to a company called Antaris beginning May 1st.  So be patient with us as we all get trained on the new software.  For members it will mean you will need to book swim lanes through the Front desk for the next few days.  CSI will no longer support any online payments or bookings.  Look for new online credentials to be emailed to all members next week.

Please be kind and patient with our Front Desk staff as we navigate our way through closing the Downtown Club and learning to use our new software.

We are glad to welcome all the Downtown members to Cordata, we are working on getting everything arranged–so bear with us as we move things around a bit.  New carpet is coming for the upstairs next week Wednesday, so be prepared to access the upstairs through the cardio room instead of the main staircase.

Bittersweet News for Downtown

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Here’s hoping Covid is waning and we can get some semblance of our lives back.  As many of you know we have been in protracted negotiations on the lease for the Downtown Club.  The building is changing hands and getting answers has been very difficult.  There are a variety of problems beside the terms and the cost of the lease:  The homeless who are lingering, sleeping, and etc. all around the exterior walls of 1616 Cornwall ever since the Base Camp went in across the street have been a big problem.  We have been unable to get any solutions out of the city.  Also many will remember the floods of the Fall, which have been a repeated problem over time.  And of course Covid — 19,20,21,  and 22 has depleted our Downtown membership.

All this by way of expressing that the era of the Downtown Club is coming to an end, we will be closing the Downtown facility on March 31st.  All equipment will be auctioned off through James G Murphy Co.   They are well known in the area and respected.  The auction will be held the first part of April.  If you are interested in purchasing any equipment that is where it will be available.  We would love all of you to transition back out to the Meridian location, but understand that is not convenient for everyone.  Please let membership know as soon as possible what your intentions are.  There will be no 30-day notice to cancel.  But be sure to contact us, as we can’t guess what you might like to do.  The best way is to email memberservices@bellinghamathleticclub.com with your intentions.

The good news is that we have been working on the Cordata facility and will continue to do so.  We have shower dividers coming for the men’s locker rooms.  We are adding weight equipment to the back of the cardio room, and plan on using the proceeds from the Downtown auction to purchase some new equipment for Cordata.  The women’s main locker room is having a facelift, installing wood lockers and adding a lounge area complete with couch, chairs and TV.  We will be expanding floor areas upstairs for more small group training and stretching areas.

We are very excited to be focusing our attention back at Cordata where everything began in 1975.  Cordata has always been the driver of business here at BAC; with the pool and the courts providing a variety of options for adults and families alike.  We will be expanding hours and programming soon at Cordata, we are looking to a more robust Group Ex schedule of classes, and adding more Kids Club hours (as long as we can find staff), as well as more Family Swim times.  Stay tuned for all the great happenings here at BAC –Cordata!  Looking forward to seeing you all here at the club!

Respectfully,
Cathy