
Governor Inslee however was not celebrating. Members, for the first time in nearly 6 months, gave our bodies the strength training we’d been longing for throughout the lockdown. Or remain closed, continuing to deprive desperate people of the outlet their bodies craved, and continue to await bankruptcy, which would pair with the equivalent amount of time it would take for the governor to lift the lockdown.
#Maple valley fitness free
Reopen their doors and free their remaining members to get the exercise they so desperately needed, at the same time receiving thousands of dollars of government fines for reopening during the lockdown. Kelley, Manager of Maple Valley Fitness, had a tough call to make. As so many other small businesses have met this devastating fate, before their doors could even reopen once more. Later they revealed the consequence if they had kept complying bankruptcy. We loved our gym community and did not want to see it deteriorate.Īfter many months of complying to Governor Inslee’s decree, Maple Valley Fitness would not comply any longer. The email woke many loyal members, to the fact their beloved fitness haven was endangered including my family and I who had purchased our memberships for everyone in the family and established a daily ritual of working out before the shutdown. Months later Maple Valley Fitness sent out an email asking people not to cancel their memberships, warning them that if members continued to cancel they have no choice but to close. There was nothing Maple Valley Fitness could do, but encourage people to keep active at home, and promise one day their doors would be open again. Now try and emphasize with the devastation so many felt at not being able to exercise their bodies their amazing outlet, labeled as “unessential” and shut off by their governor, like a fluent pipe gone frozen. To visualize this imagine your life’s work, labeled as unessential, someone snatching the keys to your happy place and forever shutting it off from the minds and bodies of the world. “Non-essentials business are to shut down” This simple phrase held detrimental impacts to the small businesses of Maple Valley, and beyond. Why? To understand why we must think back to March 16th 2020 when Governor Inslee’s decree to lock down the state hit our community.Ĭlosely following this was the unfortunately the order that crushed our small business, like Maple Valley Fitness Kelley truly is both invested and interested in everyone who comes through his gym’s doors.īut after years of housing the opportunity for physical activity and growth, Maple Valley Fitness, February 11th marked the last day it’s doors would be open to the community. My parent’s relationship with Kelley, former Maple Valley fitness manager, is just one of countless stories which paint a picture of the unique dedication and interest Kelly held for his members, which became like family.

Kelley was always an enthusiastic supporter of him and his goals, while he trained hard as the Skyline High School Football captain and later moved on to become a place kicker for the Central Washington University. Meanwhile, my dad got to know Kelley, former manager of Maple Valley fitness, well by coming to the gym regularly in high school. My mom, 37 now, having lived here since the age of 5 remembers attending the gym with her father, and my grandpa as a teengaer. Later on in life, they purchased memberships for my three siblings and I, who fell in love with the hometown gym community. Years later, returning from college, where they met, together they moved back to Maple Valley, purchasing a membership at the same gym.


My own parents, 37, and 40, got to know Kelley well through his support in their teenage years. Do these doors look familiar? If you’re a Maple Valley resident, for a good reason, they should.įor 25 years Maple Valley Fitness was a safe haven to Maple Valley residents seeking a physical outlet.
