Cass County Fitness is off and running

Some people adhere to the three C’s of life which are choices, chances and change.

You must make a choice to take a chance or your life will never change.

Eric and Meagan Lummus made the choice to take a chance and their lives have changed.

Back in the early part of the new century and millennium Atlanta Memorial Hospital opened a fitness center and called it New Attitudes.

When CHRISTUS bought AMH a few years ago the name was changed but the center still operated without closing its doors.

Enter COVID-19.

When the rapid spread of the virus caught the attention of state officials, places where people gathered most were ordered to close and fitness centers were caught in the crosshairs.

Through it all the fitness center was set to open last fall but through a series of unfortunate events things changed.

New Attitudes was put up for bids shortly thereafter. The Lummus power couple put in a bid along with others for the business and won.

Taking a chance changed the Lummus’ lives for the better and Cass County Fitness was born.

“I’m really passionate about helping this community and the people in it thrive through fitness and wellbeing,” Eric Lummus said. “After I was told I won the bid for the business several people started congratulating me through Facebook or text or when they saw me telling me how much this gym means to them and the community and how it’s helped them.”

“It motivated and encouraged me to get this up and running for the community more than anything.” Lummus added. “I saw how many people were passionate about it and realized so many called this place home when it came to working out and trying to better themselves mentally and physically.”

Of course this wasn’t just a venture Lummus decided to see if he could get into. It was a dream and desire.

“I’ve wanted to own a gym since I was in my 20’s and have been a gym rat since I was 17. I told people I was going to own a gym one day so this is a surreal feeling for me,” Lummus remarked. “I’m excited. When I noticed the upside to getting in shape and fitness I wanted to help others down that path and grow more myself. I’ve been in love with gym life and the fitness industry for a long time.”

“I didn’t know when it was going to happen but I knew one day it would,” Lummus continued. “How this opportunity came to fruition was very unexpected. I wasn’t planning on this at all. The stars aligned just right and we were fortunate enough to put in a winning bid.”

The community support has amazed the Lummus duo and it encouraged them both to plow ahead in a positive light.

“The response from the community has been very encouraging,” Lummus said. “It made me think on more of a positive note because after we won the bid I knew things were going to happen fast and it had to sink in and I thought now it’s time to go to work because both my wife and I have fulltime jobs. We had to hit the ground running.”

Full-time jobs is an understatement.

Eric works full-time at Stanco Manufacturing, Inc. in Atlanta and Meagan is a full-time RN at CHRISTUS St. Michael in Texarkana.

The couple has two children, Kylee, 4 and Kayden, 2.

With all of that it was a whirlwind trying to get things accomplished so they could open the center.

“We were told we won the bid in late October or early November. We had to act fast because of all the certifications, permits and red tape that comes along with a fitness business,” Lummus said. “On top of having full-time jobs we were new to this because we’ve never owned a business before. It was trial by fire. We had to jump right in and figure things out. There were things that we missed that we had to go back and get. It was trial and error deal from a business standpoint where we had to get things certified and legal to operate.”

“I received the sales tax permit Jan. 9, and we couldn’t do anything until we got that in,” Lummus added. “Once I got the sales tax certificate I asked my General Manager, Monica Beeman, when she wanted to put out the information and she said that night. So we pinned Tuesday, Jan. 12 for pre-registration.”

Beeman has had extensive marketing experience and was a much needed help for the Lummus’ to have on staff.

Beeman’s husband Doug also added insight since he has ran fitness centers for quite a few years including New Attitudes.

Lummus has been especially thankful to his wife and the Beemans.

“Meagan is a fulltime nurse and I couldn’t have done this without her, the support of my family, the support of the community and the support of Monica and Doug Beeman,” Lummus said.

“It has been a quick turnaround and Monica pushed it through pretty fast. We are slammed right now which is an awesome problem to have,” Lummus remarked. “Monica is working well past her hours, maybe some 14-plus hours a day. During pre-registration we opened the doors at eight so she came in at seven to get ready for the rush and would stay until after six in the evening. She’d actually leave at nine after the blitz and still have a smile on her face.”

The key to success of any business is its customers. For fitness centers its membership.

“We were able to start signing up members Jan. 12 and carried pre-registration signups through Jan. 16,” Lummus said. “We were projecting to have 30 to 40 on the first day and ended up with 127. It was a wow moment for us. I knew this was going to be special from that point.”

After a solid first day the membership total was 300 after three days and by the end of the pre-registration experience more than 411 people had signed up.

“We are happy with membership numbers especially in COVID-19 time. I was thinking coming in it would be great to get 500 memberships after the first year and it looks like we will surpass that in the first month,” Lummus said. “The main goal is to generate enough memberships to pay our bills and pay our staff and put enough money back to pay our staff in the event of a government shutdown. As long as this place is open and successful I’d be happy.”

As of this article the center opened Monday, Jan. 18. The gym will be open 24/7

The gym will be open 24/7 but business hours will be from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Key fob access should be up and running as of mid-Wednesday, Jan 20.

Along with Beeman as the GM, Faye Mazander and Breanna Davis will be the Nursery Assistants.

The gym will offer Zumba classes with Instructor Betty Coleman, Pilates with Instructor Renee Rosser and Yoga with Instructors Jill Crocker and Rachel Burnett.

The center will also offer High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), Barre and Spin classes.

The Lummus’ are looking for instructors to lead those classes and have applied to be part of the Silver Sneakers program and are still awaiting feedback.

Although business hours are from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. classes will go past that time period.

Class schedules are available at the gym or on the Cass County Fitness Facebook page.

The gym also offers memberships for teachers, First Responders, Healthcare Workers, senior citizens, law enforcement and active military members or veterans.

If you fall in those categories you must show proof upon signup.

The nursery will be open from 7:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Times will change and adjustments made to them as summer comes and holidays commence.

Aside from that news it was announced that starting Feb. 1, Cass county Fitness will partner up with Delicious Delights Café.

There will be a cooler stocked with delicious meals from Delicious Delights in the lobby with a variety of meals and snacks.

There is also discussion of partnering up with a local drink nutritionist in the future.

With all of the excitement and increased workload the Lummus’ still wanted to make everyone aware that the center will follow COVID-19 protection protocol.

“We have signs on the front door which we have posted that says if you have fever or are not feeling well please don’t come into the building so we can ensure the safety of our workers and others coming into and going out of the building,” Lummus said. “Restrictions on machines due to COVID-19 include – all the cardio machines are spaced six feet from one another. We have signs all over the place and we have things taped off every six feet with signs saying if you cannot maintain distance of six feet or more we suggest you wear a mask.”

“Following COVID-19 protection protocol we are putting several mobile sanitization stations around the gym which goes along with the ones we have on the wall throughout the building,” Lummus remarked.

“These have wipes for members to wipe down equipment before and after they are in use and we have viral disinfectant spray and paper towels with trash cans that are set up on rolling tables all throughout the facility. We ask that you wipe down the machines and clean your station after use.”

“We will clean the place at least two to three times a day and do a deep clean at the end of every day. We will also do a deep clan around lunchtime. As soon as our office manager Monica leaves at 6 p.m. we will do a deep clean every single night,” Lummus stated. “We want to make sure everything is always full, like our hand sanitizer and paper towels and the trash cans aren’t spilling over at any time. We also have masks for those who would like to wear one while they are working out or for those who forget to bring theirs.”

Another large part of the business was re-opening the center’s nursery.

“The daycare is a very important part of the gym because some of our members need help watching their kids when they are working out,” Lummus said. “When the pandemic hit most people stopped working out all together because they didn’t have anyone to help watch the kids while they worked out. That’s something I knew we had to open along with the gym.”

The nursery will be no different from the gym as far as COVID-19 protocol goes.

“We treat the daycare part just as serious as the rest of the gym. We have a scanning thermometer we will use for every child that comes into the nursery. They will wash their hands upon arrival and parents will sign them in and sign them out,” Lummus remarked. “Our caretakers will have their temperatures taken daily as well when they arrive. They will wash their hands and sanitize when they get here and will be required to wear a mask around the children.”

Lummus said they plan on re-opening the pool area in May.

“We want this to be successful and operable and get the community back into this. This center has been a staple here for more than 20 years and our goal is to pay the bills and have enough capital to participate in various charitable events including Toys 4 Tots, fundraisers, food drives, charity and scholarship events,” Lummus said.

With that mindset there’s no doubt Cass County Fitness will run in the right direction and enjoy a cycle of success.