EVERETT – Gale Springer took a few years off from regular exercise to focus on raising her three young children.
Time to get back in the habit, she said.
Springer and her children were among the hundreds of Snohomish County residents Saturday who signed up for Get Movin’, a program aimed at getting people to exercise.
There are prizes – such as passes for swimming, skating and bowling – for being active for 30 minutes five times a week.
“It’s just a great motivation,” said Springer, who lives near Lake Stevens and attended the Get Movin’ kickoff party at Everett Mall. “It gets you thinking about things you wouldn’t normally think about, then it motivates you to do it.”
More than 600 people signed up at the party inside Everett Mall. Children took part in yoga, aerobics and other activities as their parents watched from the sidelines. Other kickoff parties were held in Lynnwood and Marysville.
This is the first year the program has accepted adult participants.
“Everyone in the family needs to be active,” said Caroline Brown, a health and fitness director with the YMCA who organized the kickoff events.
Hannah Amburgy, 9, of Everett helped lead a Tae Kwon Do demonstration. Afterward, she stayed for the activities and to watch a gymnastics performance.
“I like all the demonstrations,” said Hannah, who enjoys biking, running, swimming and jumping on a trampoline during her free time.
Her father, Rod Amburgy, said Get Movin’ is effective because it exposes children to different types of exercise.
“They’re at the age where their interests change a lot,” Amburgy said. “If we can give them more of a choice of things to do, it increases their chances of being healthy.”
Safety experts were also at Saturday’s kickoff in Everett to educate parents on how to prevent childhood injuries, and about the harmful effects of alcohol, smoking and drug use in families.
The summer activity program was launched in 2004, an outgrowth of The Herald’s yearlong series on childhood obesity.
Reporter Scott Pesznecker: 425-339-3436 or spesznecker@heraldnet.com.
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