Vol. XLIX, No. 2
February 2025
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THE NOE VALLEY VOICE On Lok Senior Center Is Back In Full Swing
The Sweet Taste Of Success Chocolate Covered Still Melting Hearts on 24th Street
30th Street Site Packs Lunch And More Than 50 Activities
By Jeff Kaliss
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By Leslie Crawford
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n Lok 30th Street Senior Center, located at 225 30th St. at the southeastern corner of Noe Valley, is back in full operation post-pandemic. Although the multipurpose non-profit never fully closed during Covid—it provided Zoom classes, hybrid programs, and meals to go—it is now back to offering a full spectrum of activities to people over 60. From its inception in 1979, when a small group of seniors asked to start a social club in a room in the 30th Street building, the center has been a hub of activity for those living in Noe Valley, the Mission, well, all over San Francisco. In July 2024, the center brought back its popular in-person indoor dining, serving thousands of free or low-cost
Salsa for 60 and Over: In addition to a hot lunch, seniors enjoy dancing to a fiery Latin beat at the On Lok 30th Street Senior Center near Dolores Street. Photo by Art Bodner
hen I stopped in to talk with Marilyn Sitkoff and Jack Epstein last month, Marilyn was bagging up attractive collections of chocolate hearts and chocolate lips, in anticipation of the demands of Valentine’s Day. And she was thinking back to that same holiday 31 years ago, when Chocolate Covered, the business she shares with her life partner Jack at 4069 24th St., came into being. Up till then, that space had been the location of Ocean Front Walkers, the couple’s previous longtime business, which featured comfy pajamas, socks, and “kids’ clothes in adult sizes.” Jack and Marilyn lived (and still do) in a newly renovated house up the street, across from Barney’s. “I told him he’d better get me some chocolate for Valentine’s Day,” recalls Marilyn. Jack complied, but advised Marilyn, CONTINUED ON PAGE 9
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Gyms Build Strength in Noe Resistance Training a Booming Trend in Health and Fitness By Matthew S. Bajko
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n the last four years, strength training with free weights has shot up in popularity. According to a yearly survey done by the American College of Sports Medicine, it was the number two worldwide fitness trend in 2023, a jump from eighth place two years prior. Those trendlines are no surprise to fitness enthusiasts in Noe Valley. Over the past decade, the neighborhood has seen an influx of businesses offering muscle-building and strength-training classes, many of which incorporate barbells, dumbbells, or other types of equipment into their workouts. One of the first was YuBalance, which 10 years ago opened near the Church and 24th streets intersection. Last month it relocated to 4159 24th St., near Diamond Street. More recent additions have been Iron and Mettle and MX3 Fitness, both also on the 24th Street commercial corridor. The latest arrival is Roar, a workout studio aimed at women. There, the focus is on strength training. Roar’s classes are built around having clients use weights to pump up their muscles. For those new to working out, coowners Michelle Kunkel and Meghan Basmajian start their clients off with 8pound weights and have them progress to working with at least 30-pound dumbbells to maximize the results. “With strength training, it is important that it be done consistently and at
A Growing Industry: There has been a dramatic increase in iron and mettle in Noe Valley this past year, as local residents flock to a variety of gyms offering muscle building and resistance training along 24th Street. Photo by Art Bodner
least three times a week,” said Kunkel, who earned a B.S. in kinesiology at Michigan State University. “Strength training once a week just is not enough.” The two certified personal trainers and instructors first met in 2021 while working at the Barry’s Bootcamp location downtown. They opened Roar Oct.
6 at 1500 Castro, at the corner of 25th Street, purposefully to provide women a space tailored to their fitness needs. “From the teenager coming in with their mom trying to impact their personal fitness to the 72-year-old working on bone density and to ensure she can get up off the ground should she fall, we try to make it accessible to every-
body,” said Basmajian. Each day of the week, Kunkel and Basmajian center their 45-minute workouts on a different area of the body using weights the entire time. (They offer hour-long classes on Saturdays.) Their aim is to have their clients CONTINUED ON PAGE 11