Getting A Workout At Work Kootenai County Pumps Up Exercise Program For Government Employees

It was not a Spandex crowd.

The 14 women in Monday’s aerobics class wore shorts and T-shirts, leggings and sweat shirts. A few were 20-somethings, but most were in their 40s or 50s.

“Everybody is who they are. They have their own abilities and their own limitations,” said Becky Blodgett, a secretary for the Kootenai County board of commissioners. She teaches the aerobics classes.

The Monday class is one of three held weekly from 12:15 to 12:45 p.m., open only to county employees. The classes are part of the county’s 2-month-old wellness program, started after the county began to administer its own health insurance plan.

“It made us keenly aware of things we could do to have a more healthy population,” Commissioner Dick Compton said. “If you have a healthier clientele in the long run, it’ll help keep claims down.”

The county’s wellness committee also plans a smoking-cessation program and a noon walking program. The committee distributes fliers with health tips to employees every month. In March, Monday and Tuesday evening aerobics classes will be added.

People who attend three classes receive a water bottle. A T-shirt, adorned with “KC Wellness,” is the reward after 12 classes. Towels with the wellness program logo also will be given away.

The wellness committee developed the program and secretary Kelly Sheffield designed the “KC Wellness” logo.

“Everybody’s really pitched in and helped,” said Fran Vradenburg, a committee member and secretary for legal services and risk management.

Seven women sporting “KC Wellness” T-shirts were among those in Monday’s class who twisted and twirled around the room, lifting and lowering arms and legs, and hustling to stick with the beat. About 18 women usually attend the classes, Vradenburg said.

The wellness program also has brought together people from different departments, Blodgett said.

“I never would have met anyone from adult misdemeanor or from the prosecuting attorney’s office,” she said.

District court secretary Liz McCombs has attended two classes per week since the program began.

“It gives me a chance to do my exercise during the lunch hour,” McCombs said.

County temporary employee Donna Hrehor works only on Tuesdays and Thursdays but comes in the other three days for the classes.

“Becky (Blodgett) is just so fun,” Hrehor said. “You don’t feel intimidated at all.”

Blodgett is well-suited to teach the class. She started teaching aerobics in 1988, as a single parent in San Francisco looking for work. She bought a fitness studio and soon had five instructors, child care and a weightlifting program.

“I was not slim. I loved to dance and I loved music,” Blodgett said. Making people feel comfortable is the goal of her classes.

“Whatever they do is OK. We leave there with sweat on our brows and smiles on our faces.”