Like a good neighbor, private Portsmouth club is there

Seaconnet Sportsman’s Club opens doors to CFPIA fitness classes

By Jim McGaw
Posted 11/21/18

PORTSMOUTH — The Seaconnet Sportsman’s Club is making sure that members of Common Fence Zumba keep on dancing.

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Like a good neighbor, private Portsmouth club is there

Seaconnet Sportsman’s Club opens doors to CFPIA fitness classes

Posted

PORTSMOUTH — The Seaconnet Sportsman’s Club is making sure that members of Common Fence Zumba keep on dancing.

A major renovation of the Community Fence Point Community Hall meant that fitness classes — including Zumba, a prime money-maker for the nonprofit Common Fence Point Improvement Association (CFPIA)  — would be out in the cold while contractors worked on the interior this month.

But then the private Sportsman’s Club came to the rescue by agreeing to host morning Zumba and yoga classes at its building, which is located on shell-covered land that juts out into the Sakonnet River on the east side of the neighborhood.

“They are the best neighbors ever,” said Conley Zani, CFPIA president and one of the Zumba instructors. “I am over the moon that they were so generous.”

Last Friday morning, nearly 40 Zumba participants got sweaty as they danced in front of windows offering a picturesque backdrop — a view looking north up the Sakonnet River. (Ms. Zani and another instructor, who face toward the dancers, joked that the participants' eyes often wander in the new setting.)

“It’s awesome of the Sportman’s Club to open their doors to us and let us come here,” said Karla Simmons, who’s been coming to the Zumba classes for about a year and a half. “It’s nice not having to stop it altogether. It’s a bit of an abridged schedule because we can’t have the evening classes, but they’re holding all the morning classes.” 

For many in the class, Zumba has become a way of life.

Jeanne Travers won three free months of Zumba in a raffle to raise money for Common Fence Music, which also uses the hall. (This year the series has taken its shows on the road due to the construction project.) She started doing Zumba in August and has decided to keep at it even though her free period has expired.

“It’s a lot of fun and I’ve met some new friends, and we’re always smiling and laughing and having a good time,” Ms. Travers said.

“I just love how I feel when I leave this place. There’s so much positive energy," added Pat Robb of Middletown, one of the dancers who often gets distracted by the great view in front of her. “I wish we could take the water with us, I’m so entranced by it. I so appreciate the men (of the Seaconnet Sportsman’s Club) for being such kind neighbors and putting this out there for us.”

Ms. Robb isn’t the only out-of-towner who attends the classes. Her friend, Holly Borgueta of Tiverton, was the one who told her about Common Fence. “Conley’s the heart and soul of Common Fence Point and Zumba, and I would drive anywhere to follow her,” Ms. Borgueta said.

Phyllis Horrocks said she’s also made new friends at Zumba. “I’ve only been coming for 15 months, but it’s the love that keeps your coming back. It truly has been a life-changing event for me,” she said. “I’m just thankful for the Sportsman’s Club to let us dance here, because without it we’re depressed.”

For Jeannie O’Donnell Northup, being at the Sportman’s Club is like being with family in more ways than one.

“My father, Louis Cebul, who would be 99 years old, was one of the founding members of this club. And when he had a stroke, they built the ramp for him,” she said, noting that her dad went by the nickname, “Ski.” 

Big commitment

Ms. Zani said the Seaconnet Sportsman’s Club’s gesture is remarkable because it’s an invitation-only, private club; the waiting list to join is more than 10 years long. 

In addition, a club member needs to be present at each class to open up and then lock up the building. “That’s a big commitment,” Ms. Zani said.

During last Friday’s class, two of those club members were tucked away in a corner near the bar, watching the class. One of them, Pierre Morin, said the idea was brought before the board after Ms, Zani reached out.

“We agreed to do it for November, Monday through Saturday,” Mr. Morin said. “I think it’s terrific. We’re just glad to be good neighbors and help them out while their community center’s being rebuilt.”

But why wasn’t he out on the dance floor?

“I’ve been thinking about it,” he said. “They’ve been asking me to do it, so maybe I’ll get my wife here tomorrow and I’ll just jump in. It looks like a lot of fun.”

Ms. Zani would love to see that, and says CFPIA wants to “give back” to the club in any way it can in the future.

“But for now, any Sportsman’s wife or girlfriend is welcome to come in and shake it with us,” she said. “We’re going to be looking for opportunities to pay back a little, but they have said they want nothing in return. They’re just trying to be good neighbors.”

The fitness classes hope to return to the CFPIA hall in December, Ms. Zani said.

“But we have to play it by ear,” she said. “There are a lot of things up in the air, the most important of which is safety. We’ve got to get the exits right and the fire signage in. It’s all dependent on that.”

Common Fence Point Improvement Association, Seaconnet Sportsman's Club

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Jim McGaw

A lifelong Portsmouth resident, Jim graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1982 and earned a journalism degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1986. He's worked two different stints at East Bay Newspapers, for a total of 18 years with the company so far. When not running all over town bringing you the news from Portsmouth, Jim listens to lots and lots and lots of music, watches obscure silent films from the '20s and usually has three books going at once. He also loves to cook crazy New Orleans dishes for his wife of 25 years, Michelle, and their two sons, Jake and Max.