Former Monongah High science teacher Arthur Vincent, 93, and Jackie Olesky Straight, Class of 1955, and four of their exercise buddies have combined for more than 180 years of workouts at Fairmont Fitness, 1509 Fairmont Avenue (the U.S. 250 segment) in Fairmont.

Jackie, for example, has been going there for 37 years. She drives to it from her Rivesville home.

The others, starting with the oldest to show proper respect, are Peggy Setito, 87; Arlene Holt, 86; Kathy Gump, 81; and Heidi Brumage, 81.

Heidi came to America from Germany. She traveled around Europe enough to know the exact location of Pellizzano, Italy, where Jackie’s mother, Lena Futten Olesky, was born. Pellizzano is a whitewater rafting lure nowadays.

Not in photo is Emily McDowell, Murv McDowell’s wife. They are Farmington High alumni. Emily has been benefitting from Fairmont Fitness for more than 30 years. 

Murv and Emily for years parked their RV in the Light Blue Lot for football games in Mountaineer Field in Morgantown.

Many at Fairmont Fitness are 40 to more than 80 years old and have been exercising there for decades.

While Jackie is doing her thing at Fairmont Fitness her daughter, Renee, is avoiding being trampled by hippos in Kenya and neighboring African countries. It’s Renee’s latest journey beyond America’s shores.