The dream of owning her own business was realized for one local woman earlier this year, as Mary Hilligas and her husband, Chris, of rural Lennox took ownership of the 24 hour access fitness center in Lennox in January.
Mary says she has a passion for fitness, and when she drove through Lennox and saw the business for sale, she called. It turned out to be a great fit for the couple; they opened Forever Fitness in February and finalized everything in March. The couple also owns the fitness center in Freeman, S.D.
They moved to the outskirts of Lennox about four years ago, Mary grew up in Brandon and her husband is originally from Texas. Chris plans to keep his full-time job, but the fitness centers will be Mary’s full-time work. And she’s looking forward to it.
“Fitness has always been part of our lives. I love to come here; I want to bring excitement to Lennox about fitness,” Mary said.
One way they have done that is to start a Couch to 5K group to get people ready for the Firecracker Road Race that is held during the Old Fashioned Fourth of July events in Lennox. She said that participants will get prizes for meeting goals.
Along with the Couch to 5K program, Mary said they are a Silver Sneakers gym. Silver Sneakers is a fitness program for adults 65+ that comes free with qualifying health plans. She encourages seniors interested in the program to visit with her.
She added the name for their business reflects her philosophy, “Forever Fitness is something that you can do forever, it’s a reflection that no matter what your age, you can work toward fitness goals.”
The Fitness center welcomes members ages 10 years and up. The center is open with 24 hour access to members. They offer strength and cardio machines and equipment, a tanning bed and Mary hopes to increase class offerings as time goes on. She hopes to eventually add staffed hours as well.
Forever Fitness offers a 10% discount to military members and first responders, membership rates vary from $27 to $45 a month.
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