Carol's Turtle Tales

Anyone who meets Dorothy Harpring is immediately struck by her attractive appearance, her enthusiasm and her physical fitness. She helps lead OTHERS to physical fitness by teaching the Golden Retrievers fitness class at the Fulton County Senior Center in Wauseon two times a week as well as at Hands of Grace in Delta once a week.

Before the Golden Retrievers officially begin their
class, Dorothy, left, leads members like Doris Baltes
on warm-up walks around the outside of the gym floor

But would you believe that, as a child, Dorothy was forbidden to exercise? At three, she was diagnosed with heart leakage and an irregular heartbeat. She was the fifth of seven children at the time and the doctor felt that being in such a large family was too much excitement for her. He was afraid she would try to do all the active things her brothers and sisters did.

So her parents, Adolph and Regina Meyer of Fort Jennings, decided that the best thing would be for her to live with her maternal grandparents, John and Catherine Wyant in Leipsic. She lived the life of an only child there, visiting her family for only a week in the summer and on holidays. She finally did get a bicycle when she was ten. When she was 13, her mother insisted she come back home and be reintroduced into the family.

By then, her oldest sister was married and there was one more sibling. "Feeding chickens and gathering eggs were new experiences for me. Grandpa and Grandma hadn't required too many chores of me and there was a lack of discipline, which made it difficult to fit back into my family."

When Dorothy was a freshman in high school, her dad bought a farm near Bellefontaine. "I was exempted from gym class in high school because of my heart condition. " she says. "I started working as a clerk at the G.C. Murphy store when I was 16 and, after I'd graduated from high school, at J.C. Penny. I always caught a ride to work with a friend. When we went to work at J.C. Penny, the two of us took a room in town and lived there for several months." But since I couldn't afford to pay rent AND buy a car, I moved back home."

Dorothy met her husband Ira quite by accident. "I was sitting in my car watching a baseball game with a guy I was dating and another friend when Ira ran into us." She says with a laugh. "There wasn't any damage to either vehicle and we struck up a conversation. A few weeks later, our paths crossed again and we started dating. That was in early fall. We were married on February 16th 1957 at St. Patrick's Church in Bellefontaine."

Even though Rosemary Lind, left, Pauline Cogan, Dorothy Ruetz,
Joann Gerken and Arlene Eicher were allowed to sit during this phase of
a recent Golden Retrievers fitness class, they did nots of stretching
and got a good workout.

"Ira was in the Air Force at the time. After he was discharged he took a job in Fort Wayne, where we lived for six months. Then he went to work for the Federal Aviation Agency in Vandalia and we bought a house trailer near Tipp City. Eventually we were able to buy a house near New Carlisle and we lived there until we outgrew it and moved again to a larger home south of Vandalia."

"We moved several more times, but we always stayed in the area. Ira believed in moving rather than building on or remodeling. He later transferred to the Toledo Express Airport as a Federal Aviation maintenance supervisor working on the instrument landing system and we moved to Delta." "One of our sons now has the same job his dad retired from."

Ira and Dorothy had four girls followed by two boys. She had no heart complications during pregnancy or childbirth and she lived a very active life, with the first three children arriving during the first three years of marriage.

For most of her life, Dorothy has been a stay-at-home mom except for the six and a half years she worked at Sheller Globe in Wauseon. Her motivation to go to work was to help her oldest daughter with college expenses. At Sheller Globe, some of her co-workers talked about walking for exercise and she decided to give it a try by walking with her dog around the neighborhood in the evening. The dog really liked to walk and he started to look forward to Dorothy finishing the dishes in the evening so they could go out. She started feeling better and losing a little weight, so she got hooked on walking, too.

After she quit work, she joined a Fulton County Health Center low-impact aerobics class in Delta two mornings a week and enjoyed it so much that she continued until a year and a half ago, when an auto accident injury sidelined her. There were several women her age in the class, so it was a social outing as well and she continued the evening walks.

"I'd been in that aerobics class for 15 years when Judy Price, who's the fitness coordinator at the Health Center, called and asked if I'd teach a class because the instructor wanted to go to Florida for the winter. "I said I'd think about it. Judy kept calling. Finally, after three or four calls, I agreed to teach at the Fulton County Senior Center."

The class was originally called Body Recall. I was pretty nervous when I started teaching it, but gradually I became comfortable with it. I've made a lot of friends through the Golden Retrievers and it's really been satisfying to encourage people to exercise and improve their flexibility and overall health. For some of them, it is the only exercise they get."

Class member Leilah Ledyard considers
Dorothy to be both a dear friend and a powerful
motivator.

Dorothy spends lots of time preparing for her classes and she tries to vary the routines. She researched exercise tapes from the Delta Public Library and she reads a lot on fitness. She definitely practices what she teaches, eating healthy with lots of fruits and vegetables, avoiding refined sugar, drinking six to eight glasses of water a day and following a low-fat diet.

She reads about health and nutrition and takes a multivitamin, vitamins C and E and Bromelian, a digestive aid. She avoids fried foods and uses olive oil in her cooking. When she isn't teaching fitness, Dorothy crochets and does counted cross-stitch, Swedish weaving and rug hooking.

She is a volunteer at St. Caspar parish and the Fulton County Health Center and she does other volunteer work for Hands of Grace, including serving lunch, playing cards with residents, participating in sing-alongs and Bingo, helping with jigsaw puzzles, cleaning up after lunch and visiting with clients.

Ira died of cancer five years ago and she has had to adjust and carry on. She sold their home in the country and built a new one in Delta. Her children all live relatively close by and she baby sits for her grandchildren as needed. Her heart is strong now and her doctor can seldom detect even an irregular heartbeat. Dorothy gives so much love that God probably decided she needed a really healthy strong heart to keep producing all that love.

Whenever Rosemary Lind signs in for a fitness class,
she knows she will soon be all limbered up!

Golden Retrievers is sponsored by the American Physical Rehabilitation Network and the Fulton County Health Center's Rehab Center. The only charge is a free-will donation, so everyone can afford to participate. Participants gain strength and flexibility in this no-sweat exercise class, where many of the exercises are performed sitting on a chair.

A caring, positive atmosphere fills the second-floor gym at the Senior Center as Dorothy warmly greets everyone and makes inquiries as to their health. Many come early to walk the track and she provides motivational walking music for them.

The group, which includes many long-term members and one who comes all the way from Morenci, forms a circle of friendship, caring and fellowship. Class members report that it lifts their spirits and that they have lost weight and toned up.

One of them, Dallas Willeman, helped Dorothy put together this description of Golden Retrievers. Golden age of life. Old is just a state of mind. Lift your mind and look forward. Do some exercise to keep you young. Eat part of your food and give the rest to your pet. Nice and easy does it. Retrieve your energy. Energize your day. Tell someone everyday that you love them. Roll those shoulders. Ignore bad habits. Enjoy every moment of every day. Valuable friends are those who listen. Everyone benefits from exercise. Remember all the good things in your life. Stay healthy, be happy, live long.

Physical fitness experts suggest working out with a buddy or joining a class. They say you will be more motivated and get better results than if you try to exercise alone. The members of the Golden Retrievers class agree. Ethel Kissel says it keeps her moving and is a big boost to her self esteem. She really enjoys being with people and the class makes her feel as if she can accomplish anything.

Dorothy practices what she preaches and often gets out to walk her dog

Pauline Cogan hopes her participation in the Golden Retrievers will help her overcome some physical problems. She also enjoys the fellowship. Irma Lowery thinks it is the perfect place to go for exercise. Joann Gerken loves the fellowship and the low-impact aerobics.

Rosemary Lind says the class keeps her flexible and gives her the incentive to also exercise on her own. Dorothy Ruetz loves to dance and she says the class keeps her moving and flexible so she can enjoy dancing. She also loves to get out and associate with other people, especially now that she is retired.

But perhaps the biggest fan of Golden Retrievers is Leilah Ledyard. She has had both hips replaced and one knee replaced twice, besides undergoing neck surgery and suffering from chronic arthritis. She walks with a walker but comes to Golden Retrievers twice a week.

Her motivation is to keep moving so she can continue to live on her own. She also goes to water aerobics at the Fulton County Health Center Twice a week. She takes Fridays off from exercise and looks forward to that day of sleeping in and waking slowly. At 83, she is proud that she gets her body moving in spite of all her limitations.

Leilah adds a lot of fun and humor to he class with her personal commentary. Her advice to others? "All of you who are lying in bed or just sitting around...get up and MOVE!"