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APRIL 25, 2024
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Local boxing program packs a punch for people with Parkinson’s BY RICK COTE Observer staff
Twice a week, Sydney Swindell and Zach Wilson transform Fyzical Therapy and Balance Center into a boxing gym. Beginning in January, a dozen athletes – men and women – have joined the staff and volunteers on Tuesdays and Thursdays for 90 minutes of high-intensity training. And they don’t pull their punches. “They love hitting things; they love hitting the heavy bag; they love hitting me!” says Wilson, a physical therapist assistant who traveled to California last summer to be certified as a Rock Steady Boxing trainer. According to the nonprofit organization’s website, Rock Steady Boxing is a health and wellness program designed for people with Parkinson’s disease, a neurological condition that affects balance, strength, walking and especially confidence. Founded in 2006 by Scott Newman, Rock Steady Boxing now has more than 800 certified affiliates across the U.S. and fourteen other countries spanning five continents. “When I came back, we spent more than two months doing research, marketing, and contacting volunteers to be sure the program would run smoothly when we got started,” said Wilson.
Bob Pepper (l) and Zach Wilson spar during a Rock Steady Boxing session at Fyzical in Williston. The program builds confidence and community for people with Parkinson’s OBSERVER PHOTO BY RICK COTE
Swindell, who earned her doctorate in physical therapy from UVM in 2019 and opened her practice in 2022, was able to launch the program in January thanks in part to the generosity of Paul Goldman of
Colchester and Jim Yeates of Vancouver, BC, who donated much of the equipment needed to get the program started. “We wouldn’t have been able to start up this soon had it not been for Paul and Jim’s
generosity,” said Swindell. “They wanted us to get the program off the ground for a friend with Parkinson’s.” “This was Sydney’s dream,” says Wilson, “to create a comprehensive program for supporting folks with neurological disorders, like Parkinson’s: not just physical therapy, but holistic intervention and community building for them, their caregivers and everyone in their circle.” Each workout beings with a series of warm-up routines, followed by an intense circuit of exercises aimed at improving the symptoms of Parkinson’s, followed by core exercises, stretching and a cool down. “Parkinson’s messes with your balance, it throws off your gait, it saps your strength and ability to produce force,” says Swindell, “So we practice these things over and over again. And we make it hard, so participants maintain their ability to stand upright, take longer steps, turn around without losing their balance, get up and down off the floor and from a chair. These are indicators of longevity for everyone, not just people with Parkinson’s.” “One of our athletes shared how happy he was to take his wife out to dinner again,” said Wilson. “With all the fast movement, dynamic coordination and balance
Town budget revote set for May 21
Voters will once again have a chance to express support or not when a revised Williston town budget proposal for fiscal year 2024-25 goes up for a vote on Tuesday, May 21. Williston’s selectboard approved an amended budget at an
April 18 meeting after working through changes during an April 16 meeting. A decision was also made to move the vote to May 21 instead of the originally planned May 7 to ensure residents have time to assess the proposal. In addition to reducing
proposed spending by $310,000 from the budget voters rejected at Town Meeting Day, the board elected to allocate a larger pool of reserve funds to reduce the amount of tax revenue needed to support the budget. The resulting tax increase amounts to
$20 per $100,000 assessed home value, or $60 per year for a property assessed at $300,000. The selectboard chose to drop two bond items, which also did not pass on Town Meeting Day: one to fund an expanded and upgraded parking lot behind
see ROCK STEADY page 9
Town Hall and the other to pay for the installation of a fire suppression system in the Old Brick Church. More details about the revised budget proposal are described in Town Manager Erik Wells’ Guest Column on page 7.
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