By BOB VOSSELLER
Staff Writer
LACEY — Forked River
Rotary Club and the Lacey Moose Lodge
members recently teamed up to provide an
exercise device to Lacey High School.
While the Flexacise
machine arrived at the high school weeks
earlier, members of both clubs visited the
school's weight room to check it out on
Jan. 24. Among those present were Ocean
Township Police Chief Kenneth Flatt, who
is also the president of the Forked River
Rotary Club; the club's secretary, Erin
Davis; its community service director,
Kathie Nelms; and Moose Lodge Gov. Drew
Lesko.
Flatt said that the club
was originally involved in helping
16-year-old wheelchair-bound high school
student Stephanie Harris with the purchase
of a machine to help strengthen her leg
muscles. Flatt said that it was later
decided that the device could help more
then one individual if donated to the high
school.
"The high school
liked the idea and so we purchased it and
had it brought here to the weight
room," Flatt said.
"It is kind of like a
bike," said Harris, a sophomore. The
machine is also motorized. "It is
doing the job."
Davis said that the
machine cost $3,700.
"The Moose Lodge
provided $1,500 toward its purchase,"
Davis said. "The project began when
Bruce Halliday was our president."
"We collected the
funds from donations from our
members," Lesko added.
"Stephanie uses it a
lot and it is a great machine," said
Bunny McGauley, a special education
instructor and an advisor to the school's
Interact Club. "We have another
student who is also using it too."
Lesko said that his club
was gearing up for a Super Bowl party on
Sunday and a celebration for the Daytona
500 later in February.
"We also run trips to
Atlantic City and do fundraisers
throughout the year," he said.
Flatt said that the Rotary
Club was busy with preparations for its
job-shadowing program on Feb. 7 and a
pinning ceremony for new officers on Feb.
5 at the Captain's Inn in Forked River.
