GWC Quarterly Meeting, “Strength in Every Step: The Power of Movement and Community” at Greenwood YMCA, November 17, 2025
Who knew eating healthily and exercising could be so much fun? GWC’s fourth Quarterly Meeting of 2025 was hosted by the Lakelands Region YMCA and focused on their Rock Steady Boxing program. Rock Steady Boxing is designed to benefit those diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, a chronic, progressive neurological disorder that primarily affects movement due to the loss of dopamine-producing cells in the brain. GWC was thrilled to award a 2021 grant to the Lakelands Region YMCA for this program.
Nutritious and delicious snacks preceded our “workout.” Fruit smoothies, kombucha, and water provided much needed hydration while crunchy salad, cheeses and crackers were chased down by apple cider doughnut holes, Aussie Bites, and mini-chocolate chip cookies! Tasty fortification, for sure!
Our program began with GWC Vice Chair, Peggy Dewane-Pope, sharing a heartfelt and insightful narrative about her brother-in-law, who was diagnosed with Lewy body dementia, a form of Parkinson’s. As a result of his boxing classes, “he learned to manage his fear and find more physical balance, strength, and agility along with camaraderie and new friendships. As Lewy body dementia stole from him, boxing rewarded him and enabled him to live his best life.”
Peggy then introduced Programs & Education Committee member Helena Wardlaw to usher in our speakers. Helena had the pleasure of introducing our hosts from Y, Jan Rushton, GWC member and Greenwood Y Director of Health and Wellness, and Sunni Carwile, Greenwood Y Wellness Coordinator.
Jan began by thanking GWC for their $5,000 grant in 2021 which assisted in purchasing the special equipment needed for the Rock Steady Boxing program. She also informed us that our local YMCA serves a membership of 6,000! The offerings include various physical fitness and health and wellness classes suited for nearly every ability and stage of life. Jan continued to educate us on Rock Steady Boxing, including its beginnings and global growth. Sunni Carwile divided us into four groups and introduced us to our “trainers” and off we went!
The four stations consisted of a boxing dummy (dubbed “Parker”) where we learned to jab, cross, and throw a hook. The second station consisted of several speed bags; definitely not as easy as they make it look on TV! The third station was comprised of assorted opportunities including a “whack-a-mole” style challenge which was, of course, a lot of fun! The fourth station was dedicated to balance and presented a challenge to many of us!
Sabrina Miller presented a book titled The Truth about Dragons, authored by Julie Leung and illustrated by Hanna Cha, to be donated to the Greenwood Public Library Children’s Collection in honor of Jan and Sunni. This tale reminds us that strength can look different depending on the world we’re moving through.
Rachel Strayer, GWC Chair, closed our meeting by reflecting on various forms of strength, whether physical resilience, sharpened focus, renewed confidence, or the courage to keep moving when life looks different than we expected. She expressed appreciation to Jan, Sunni, and the other trainers for providing such a fun and thought-provoking program and to the YMCA for so graciously hosting us. On the brink of Thanksgiving, Rachel expressed gratitude to all our members and especially to our six standing committees and Advisory Board.
All left with a smile on their faces and appreciation for the internal and external strength we all possess and looking forward to being together again for our 2026 Winter Social. “An Evergreen Evening: Growing together to keep our community strong all year long” will be held on Tuesday, January 27, from 5:30 – 7:00pm at Grange Hall at 303 Grange Rd., Greenwood.
