Trending
WELLSBURG – The owner and staff of Cindy’s Fusion Fitness have been keeping busy since moving to their new location at 720 Charles St. and that includes holding a fundraiser to help a young girl battling cancer.
Owner Cindy Dobbs said about 120 area residents turn out for 25 fitness classes held at the studio each week.
The classes include hip-hop ab toning, Zumba, Bokwa, Pilates, yoga, CrossFit and Booties Beats, a class in which a black light is used to create a dance club atmosphere.
Visitors to the fitness studio on April 14 made a donation of their choice and bought chances in a Chinese auction, 50-50 drawing and drawings for various gift baskets, raising $950 for Katielee Montgomery, who has osteosarcoma.
The daughter of Dan and Jenny Montgomery of New Cumberland, she was diagnosed with the rare bone disease when she was 13.
Her grandmother, Patty Montgomery, said Katielee has been recovering from chemotherapy and adjusting to the prosthetics used to replace parts of the bones in one leg.
Cindy Dobbs, the studio’s owner, said she met Patty through the business, while Dawn Smith, one of her instructors, knows Katielee’s mother.
“We figured out it was the same little girl we were talking about,” Dobbs said, adding Smith suggested the fundraiser to help the family with medical and related expenses.
“They have been through a lot,” said Smith, adding Katielee “is so young but such a fighter. It just touches all of our hearts.”
Smith invited Tim Connell of local band Legend to sing at the fundraiser.
Connell, who sang “Angels Among Us,” said he learned later that Katielee’s grandfather and he played together in a gospel band years ago.
Dobbs and Smith thanked the studio’s members for their support, including donating items for the auction and gift baskets.
Richard Krisak, president of the Wellsburg Chamber of Commerce; Jacie Ridgely, chamber executive director; and several members of the chamber also were on hand to welcome the business with a ribbon cutting.
Dobbs said the community has been supportive of the business, and the studio’s members have moved with it when it moved from Follansbee after their building’s ownership changed hands and it was demolished to make room for a new development.
She expressed thanks to Chris Cipriani, the Wellsburg building’s owner, for removing walls, installing new floors and making other renovations to accommodate the studio.
Dobbs said the building’s 600 square feet has allowed her to add a changing room.
She said classes are offered between 9 a.m. and 9:30 p.m. throughout the week except Saturday evenings, including around lunch.
She also has begun a back-to-basics fitness program at the Brooke County Public Library, and there are plans for a self-defense class for adults and children.
Dobbs led Aqua Zumba and other classes for several years at locations such as the Millsop Community Center and Brooke Hills Park before opening her own business in Follansbee four and a half years ago.
She is certified by the National Exercise Trainers Association to lead group exercises and to conduct the Silver Sneakers wellness and exercise program for senior citizens.
She said any of her classes are free to Silver Sneakers participants.
For information about the studio, call (304) 559-7975 or visit its website at www.cindysfusionfitness.com or its Facebook page.
(Scott can be contacted at wscott@heraldstaronline.com.)