To the editor:

Thanks, Curves members, for a wonderful 5-plus years! It was a great ride, but as all things must eventually come to an end, the time for the Thomaston Curves has now come It saddens me tremendously for this to happen, but my life has come to the point that a change of direction was needed at this time, and unfortunately, no one could come forth to pick up the banner and keep it going. We had a tremendously successful club, having over 400 members sign up the very first month. We were overwhelmed. Then we followed that number with upwards of over 600, then, over the past two years, when we moved to a larger facility, we gained even more members, making the total number of women who joined the Thomaston Curves in Upson county over 1,000. Wow! Curves was a new concept in the fitness industry about 15 years ago with founder Gary and Dianne Heavin, and become one of the fastest growing fitness franchises in all the franchises history. Coming up with a women-only fitness facility, where you could get a full-body, cardio aerobic workout in just 30 minutes. This appealed to millions of women who didn’t have time for the hour and half workout that was required for the same effort you got here in 30 minutes. Our motto was: “No men, no makeup, no mirrors,” and the results were amazingly wonderful. Another motto was, “The Power to Amaze Yourself.” Having members lose hundreds of inches and pounds, gain self-esteem, and feel good about themselves. The social impact, was wonderful. Making new friends was great fun, and we all loved it. But in today’s economy, and given the tough competition that is now here, as I said before, all things must eventually come to an end. I will miss Curves greaty. I’ll miss alll those friends that I’ve made there - friends that I would have never had the opportunity to meet otherwise - and the members will certainly miss those friends who worked out with them. I will miss my 30 minute workout, and the opportunity to work out at any other Curves Club, anywhere in the world, for free. But I have wonderful memories, and for that I am most grateful. Thanks for the memories.

(s) Barbara Holloway