Gym Jesters' Helen Fry Receives 2009 PCPFS
Community Leadership Award
Coverage archive: Saginaw News (PDF), Township Times, Press Release
Penelope Slade-Sawyer, Acting Director of the President's Council on Physical Fitness
and Sports, recently notified Helen J. Fry, founder, owner and director of Saginaw's
Gym Jester Gymnastics and Fitness Center that she was one of just sixteen recipients
in the United States of the 2009 PCPFS's Community Leadership Awards. Fry was the
only recipient from Michigan.
Dr. Catherine Baase, Chief Medical Officer at the Dow Chemical Company, and who has served on the President's Council nominated Fry for the prestigious award. Nominations are thoroughly reviewed by teams and members of the President's
Council. Only those with the highest scores are selected. The award is given to people
who improve the lives of individuals within their communities by providing opportunities
to engage in sports, physical activities and/or fitness related programs.
For the past 47 years, Helen has provided the endless drive and energy force behind
Gym Jester Gymnastics. Approximately 700 students annually take part in a variety of
programs including pre-school motor skill development, recreational gymnastics for
elementary and middle school, and USAG competitive teams for boys and girls. Other
activities include field trips, birthday parties and other specialty classes. Over the past 4
decades more than 25,000 have benefited.
Fry moved to Saginaw, Michigan in 1961 after graduation from Michigan State
University for her first job teaching physical education in Saginaw Township Community
Schools. She was filled with a dream and passion to do something truly special. In
1962 she pioneered a gymnastics program for middle school girls, building balance
beams with her husband Tom, and holding fund raising to build a program. For several
years parents and students unloaded three semi-truckloads of tree ripened citrus fruit
from Florida.
Even while raising her own family and teaching, with her amazing drive and enthusiasm
the program grew in size and diversity of offerings moving from school grounds to
leased facilities and eventually to a permanent structure.
It is a great service to the community to have such high quality fitness and movement
programs available. Helen truly exemplifies the characteristics of those honored by the
President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports as Community Leaders
The award was presented to Helen on August 31st, 2009, in a pre-game ceremony at Midland's Loons Stadium. A transcript of the award presentation speech is available here.
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