The entrepreneurial spirit runs deep in the Valley and where there’s a niche, you’ll find some bright spark with the will and creativity to fill it. Local residents can thank a whole family with that spirit for the recent opening of Bay Fitness at 19574 Opeongo Line (Hwy 60) in Barry’s Bay. Left with vacant premises after the Valley Gazette relocated, the Faulkner family put some of son David’s workout machines in the empty space for the family’s personal gym. It wasn’t long before older sister Ashley Faulkner suggested that it wouldn’t take much to bring in more equipment and turn the former newspaper offices into a fitness centre. Above: Ashley Faulkner and her mother Marilyn O’Reilly beside the leg press, holding Bay Fitness merchandise.
Ashley, who earned a general business diploma from Algonquin College online during the pandemic, is the facility manager. With a keen understanding of customer needs developed while working at Eve’s Escape Spa, she quickly recognized that many Madawaska Valley residents have had nowhere close to home to workout since the municipality closed the fitness centre at Madawaska Valley District High School (MVDHS).
The Faulkner family moved to Madawaska Valley from Ottawa in 2013 and Ashley attended MVDHS for one year before graduation. David was an MVDHS student for Grades 9 through 12 so he used the school fitness equipment all through high school. Their parents are well known locally – Robert runs Faulkner Heating & Cooling, and Marilyn O’Reilly has plenty of business acumen as well. She said she ran a variety of small businesses when her children were young, including a candle making enterprise with Ashley. Her brother is Neil O’Reilly of Barry’s Bay Metro/Homestead at Wolf Ridge fame.
Covid restrictions limit capacity at Bay Fitness to three people, so the interior space was redesigned to accommodate equipment while maintaining the necessary physical distancing between users. Clients must wear masks. To accommodate different schedules, Bay Fitness is open Monday to Friday from 7 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. and on Saturday and Sunday from 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Sessions are scheduled in 1.5 hour increments to allow 30 minutes for sanitizing between sessions.
A full range of fitness equipment is available. A small cardio room is suitable for two persons now, but post-Covid there will be a third machine. The power rack has a back attachment for lateral pull downs, and is also equipped with pull up bars. It has safety bars and a platform for additional safety when working with heavy weights. It is fully adjustable to suit individual training requirements. The “free” space has two benches, an exercise ball, resistance bands, various sizes of free (hand) weights and a body weight machine to use as you like. A small bench press in its own area is used with 1-inch plates. With the smart treadmill you can follow along with a fitness class, follow the iFit program, adjust inclines. It will even run the program for you automatically. The newest addition is a leg press machine to be used with 2-inch Olympic plates. Ashley said that although Bay Fitness had more than 400 lbs of weights at our visit, a further 300 lbs will arrive soon. There are yoga mats to purchase as well as Bay Fitness branded merchandise.
Regular Bay Fitness client Thomas Giffin (above) arrived for a session while we were there and was happy to demonstrate how he uses the fully adjustable power rack to develop his strength. He signed up as a member as soon as Bay Fitness opened so that he could workout daily in preparation for the hockey season. By the time you read this, he will have had his first tryout.
Cost is always a big consideration and Bay Fitness aims to be affordable for all. There are three levels of membership, as well as a pay as you go option. Appointments are required for all sessions.
- Tier One $50 for up to 20 sessions ($2.50 each)
- Tier Two $45 up to $15 sessions ($3 each)
- Tier Three $40 up to 10 sessions ($4 each)
- Pay as you go $10 Book by 5pm the day before the session
- Privacy fee $10 reserves the gym for your personal use
Ashley hopes that later this year Covid rules will relax enough to allow them to hold a Grand Opening. From September, Bay Fitness will have a personal trainer available by appointment for one-on-one sessions, or for up to two clients. Future plans could even include outdoor classes in the back yard, if conditions and Covid permit. For further information you can call Ashley Faulkner on (613)401-1604 or email barrysbayfitness@gmail.com You can follow Bay Fitness on Instagram or click HERE to visit the website.
Editor’s note: This article was amended on Aug.25 to correct Thomas Giffin’s first name, as well as the Tier One membership per session cost which is $2.50 not $5 as originally published. We apologize for any confusion caused.
