RETURN HOME RETURN TO HNP BUSINESS
August, 2011 www.huffnpuffgym.com
We have been teaching children and adults in Jacksonville for nearly 31 years. The business was started way back when I taught aerobics and then began dance classes in a rented location in Gregory Place Shopping Center. We soon outgrew our four different locations in Gregory Place, and in 1984, I bought this Jacksonville lot and built the first building of 10,000 square feet, which included the original gymnastics facility.
In September of 1996, my daughter Laurel returned to Arkansas from school in Dallas, and once again began teaching dance and gymnastics at Huff ‘n Puff. The second year, she taught recreational gymnastics classes, and by the end of that year, she had students ready to begin working at a competitive level. Mr. Bobby also joined our recreational staff in the fall of 1996. In 1998, Coach Laurel re-established the Jacksonville Gymnastics Team and our new eleven-member team of Level Four gymnasts competed for the first time. Since then, our staff has grown and our team has grown. We now have gymnasts competing at Levels Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven Eight, Nine and Ten. All of our levels were quite successful in the 2010-2011 competitive season. In 2009-2010, we had one of only three Level Nine Teams in Arkansas (it takes three gymnasts to compete as a team and we had five); we won the 2010 Level Nine State Championship. In 2009, our Level Nine Team won the State Championship and our Level Seven Team tied for 2009 State Championship. Our record is good: Level Six won State Championship in 2008; Level Five won State Championship in 2007 and Level Six won our first State Championship in 2006. We have lost track of how many trophies and banners the team has won over the years, and how many individual honors the gymnasts have won. But please read under Gymnastics for our honors. We at Huff ‘n Puff are so proud of our competitive team, all levels. The gymnasts and coaches are all working very hard together and we will again compete as one of the larger teams in the state with nearly 100 gymnasts on team, Levels Two - Ten. We had several gymnasts moving two levels to compete. With the acquisition of the JAX Gym facility, we train Levels Two - Seven gymnasts now in North Little Rock, along with all the gymnasts who train at Huff 'n Puff. The gymnasts are trained by twelve competitive coaches.
The recreational programs at both facilities include the preschool programs (Me and My Shadow for 18 months to two year-old toddlers) ages two, ages three and ages four. The recreational programs for ages five and older include beginner, ongoing and advanced gymnastics, power tumbling for beginner, ongoing, advanced and elite gymnasts
Each year we have had bigger and better dance recitals with even more dancers and gymnasts performing to a packed auditorium. The 2011 recital was held back at Jacksonville High School, which was very convenient, being so close to home. Classes in Tap 'n Tumbling and Ballet 'n Tumbling are quite popular for children, ages three to five. Combination classes in ballet, tap and jazz are held for ages five to eight. Classes in single genre are also held for ages five to adult. These dance classes are held at the Jacksonville facility.
This was also the eighth year for our growing dance company--Jacksonville Dance Company--to compete. The dance company has continued to grow and had a very successful competitive season this last year, winning Diamond Elite Top Firsts, Elite Top Firsts or High Firsts, and special awards, and several times being high up in the top 10 acts for their age groups. The Company performed 16 dances, including jazz, tap, lyrical, modern, hiphop and musical theater in group dances as well as three solos. This past June, the Company competed in the Kids Artistic Revue National Dance Competition in Panama City, Florida. Our groups did very well and we all had so much fun. It was a really difficult competition and we are so proud of our accomplishments this year.
We held our 2011-2012 auditions in early August, 2011, and the instructors have started the dances for the different groups in different genre. We are all looking forward to a successful competitive year!
This summer, we began our competitive cheer squad and have two squads - a recreational-competitive squad of younger cheerleaders and an advanced squad that will compete this year. The program has been a big hit and we are looking forward to a successful year under the direction of two great coaches. The cheer coach is also holding an "Open Gym" night on Friday nights for tumblers, ten years and older, that has become quite popular.
We completed our eighth successful year of full-time summer daycamp. We are licensed by the state to be able to hold our daycamp. The children, who were broken down into age groups, attended gymnastics classes each morning. Also, many of them took advantage of the swimming lessons that we took them to at the Stonewall Pool. They completed many arts and crafts projects, had outside play and experienced wonderful camaraderie. The campers thoroughly enjoyed their weekly Friday trips to Stonewall Pool with pizza afterwards. The campers enjoyed several visits to the camp by outside sources. The Animal Shelter brought a dog to the gym and told the children about adopting a pet from the Animal Shelter. The local police and fire departments brought units to the gym and the children learned more about the departments' to the city. A special visit was made by Cockrill's Country Kritters which seemed to be the hit of the entire summer. The children got to pet animals such as a miniature pony, rabbits, chicks, ducks, puppies, and a goat. They also got to ride a regular-sized horse around the parking lot!!!
Our “Fun Night at the Gym” remains an all-time favorite “happening” at the gym. And our new birthday party packages are so popular that they must be booked long in advance.
We continue to grow - we are listing 300 hours of classes per week, including Team and Mini-Mite classes (held away from the gym.) We welcome you to visit our 19,000-square-foot gymnasium, which includes the large gym area with the three large in-ground pits for the trampoline, tumble track and foam training pit. We have four vaulting systems, four bar units (in addition to two training bars), 13 balance beams, and an extended spring floor. We also have a new strengthening and conditioning station utilized by the team. We have the great access hallway for going to our back areas that include the enlarged dance room, the preschool gym, and our great cheer gym. We also have two dance rooms upstairs, one larger and one smaller, which have both been utilized to the greatest extent. We thoroughly enjoy being able to watch our students through all the viewing windows and also being able to cheer our gymnastics team on to victory from our own “peanut gallery” in the balcony. We also have viewing at our NLR facility.
We have held classes on Little Rock Air Force Base for about 25 out of the past 31 years. We are currently holding tap and/or gymnastics classes for younger children at the Thomas Community Activity Center.
We are also holding Zumba classes for adults and teens and the classes are a big success. We started these classes about a year ago. These classes are held at Huff 'n Puff.
Our website – www.huffnpuffgym.com has continued to grow with more than 126,666 hits since we started it several years ago. I thank each of you for your interest – it makes my late night-time hours seem really worthwhile. I appreciate your support. It is also great that you may register on line and make your payments on line.
Our history is so long and successful ( is this boasting?) that it is only possible to tell it in a general way.
If you are a newcomer, we welcome you. If you are returning, we thank you. And we also thank each and every one of you for your continued support. We take such immense pride in our students, our staff and our facility, and we sincerely hope that you will feel at home with us and have pride in us, too.
And I want to say again, if you have any questions at all, please do not hesitate to call us at 985-1818.
Sincerely,
Sheryl Zimmerman Laurel Zimmerman Spears Owner Manager of Business Director of Programs