Penn Trafford area recreation group offers courses for all ages

Every Tuesday and Thursday, Midge Culig leads a class of older Penn Trafford area adults in some good old-fashioned exercise.

As part of the Senior Stretch and Strength course, Culig directs the group of around 20 seniors through a workout using weights, bands and light aerobics. Chairs are available for balance and for anyone participating to take a rest.

“I tell them, they get sick of hearing me saying it, ‘do what you can do, and if it’s painful, don’t do it,’” said Culig, who has run the class at the Penn Township Municipal Center since 2008. “You can do most things we do standing up sitting down. I think it’s important as we age to have some exercise.”

The course is one of hundreds run throughout the year by the Penn Trafford Area Recreation Committee, an intergovernmental commission that works with five municipal regions in the Penn Trafford area to offer recreational activities for residents of all ages. While Senior Stretch and Strength itself is popular enough to often be booked full, new classes pop up regularly.

“I think that my classes fit into PTARC because we cater to the older people,” she said. “There are so many classes that younger people could do, like step classes, there are all sorts of things that younger people can do, so my Tuesday and Thursday classes are 55-60 and over.”

Serving the community

In a small office at the heart of the Penn Township municipal building, Penn Trafford Area Recreation Commission director Linda Bires gestures to a wall-mounted whiteboard packed with handwritten dates and times.

Among them are yoga, sports, art and science classes for a variety of age groups. But to Bires, the list doesn’t look long at all.

“(We) work very hard to provide all kinds of different classes and programs for the residents to participate in,” Bires said. “In any given month, we can run upwards of 60 to 90 programs.”

As an intergovernmental commission, PTARC is run separately from the recreation boards and committees in the areas it serves.

Though the commission’s board of directors includes leaders from Penn-Trafford School District, Penn Township and Penn, Manor and Trafford boroughs , anyone can sign up and buy tickets for PTARC’s classes.

The funding sources for the commission have shifted over the years. In 2014, when Bires took over as director, the school district would contribute about $37,000 annually. Penn Township would contribute about $28,000, and Penn, Manor, and Trafford boroughs each put in a few thousand dollars. Since then, PTARC has reduced the contribution by 80%, to where the school district is only paying $9,880 annually, and Penn Township is only paying $8,000.

“It’s a very minimal part of our budget, because our budget is now $300,000,” Bires said.

Senior stretch

According to Bires, 2022 saw about 6,700 participants in PTARC programs overall. The commission offered upwards of 470 programs throughout the year.

Some classes through PTARC have been running for many years. In Culig’s senior athletics class, some members have made lasting friendships over time.

“Pretty much everyone is friendly and that sort of thing. A lot of us have known each other a long time, the ones who are coming to my class. We do other things when the weather is better, there is a group of us who will play bocce. That is just one of those things that you’re not charged for, but you have to bring your own equipment.”

Within the course, Culig hopes to prioritize keeping active at all ages.

“I think it’s important as we age to have some exercise,” she said. “People will come and do what they can with their own bodies.”

Working around and with the limits of people’s flexibility and athletic ability are a core part of her courses, she noted.

“When you take it down to a lower level and get people doing things, you benefit from it,” she said. “In pilates, I also teach that you don’t do what you can’t do. I would help someone try to do something, but I would never make them do it.”

Bires praised Culig’s contribution to PTARC through Senior Stretch and other classes.

“What she does for the people of this community, I think is really important,” Bires said.

Something for everyone

Nonresidents are welcome to participate in PTARC classes, Bires said, though there is typically an additional fee for people who are not from one of the group’s core areas.

The programs run by PTARC garner a lot of local interest. In January, the classes were at 87% capacity. Many were sold out. “Little Hoopsters,” a basketball course for 4-to-5-year-olds, had eight kids on its wait list.

Many classes are intended to introduce participants to different activities or sports, so that they can continue them elsewhere, she explained.

“I use the philosophy of, I like to think of it as a test drive,” she said. “We do little four- or six- or eight-week programs, like Tiny Tumbling, karate, or dance, or even for adults, a Zumba class, or cardio step-and-tone, I want people to be able to get a reasonable test drive for their children … that way, you can find out if your child likes it or not.”

Bires hopes to expand PTARC. She plans to run a math-themed program over the summer to make the subject fun for students.

“We’re working on dance,” she said. “With covid, a couple of the dance places we used to use closed, so I have not been able to get anybody to teach dance. But I have that coming back very soon.”

Bires is known for singing the praises of PTARC programs in her free tim as well.

“The big joke used to be, and probably still is, if you spend more than five minutes with me, you are going to end up teaching something, attending something or volunteering for something,” she said.