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Deerfield Park District offering jungle of new programs
April Epstein teaches a yoga class at Sachs Recreation Center in Deefield. | Dan Luedert~Sun-Times Media
New for 2013 at the Deerfield Park District
Winter
•Paddle Tennis
•Theater D Winter Show
Spring
•Deerfield Golf Club outing
•Spicy Salsa and Latin dance classes
Summer
•Rookie Sports day camp with swimming lessons
Article Extras
Updated: January 9, 2013 11:06PM
DEERFIELD — Coming off a successful, and busy, 2012, the Deerfield Park District has already laid out new courses, activities and amenities for 2013, most of which will be seen at the Sachs Recreation Center.
Rick Julison, executive director for the park district, said they recently installed a jungle gym facility — which is exactly what it sounds like.
“It’s a new kind of fitness training, where they’re using metal units with all these different resistance bands,” Julison said. “We put that in place this last year and it’s coming along really well.”
The jungle gym also offers intense, varied workouts for those looking for a challenge, Sachs Center fitness manager Timothy Johnson said.
“The jungle gym is the originator of body weight suspension training,” Johnson said. “It’s all based on body weight, and you can do an unlimited amount of exercises on it.”
Johnson said the center has created combo classes involving the jungle gym, one of the more intense ones including indoor cycling.
“It’s right on the edge of Cross Fit (an intense training regimen),” Johnson said. “All of our trainers are certified to teach the jungle gym exercises and classes.”
Another late 2012 addition to the Sachs Center that Julison projects to be a popular attraction this year is the Mind Body Studio.
“It used to be an old, underutilized spa,” Julison said. “We set this all up, like yoga, Pilates, tai chi, but with a quieter setting than before.”
Julison said yoga has always been a successful program at the Sachs, but outside noise used to interfere with the setting.
“Now, the center is serving a better use,” Julison said.
“The Mind Body Studio has been a long time coming,” Johnson added. “We tried to get that going about three years ago.”
Johnson said all the center’s yoga classes have been moved to the new studio, with new class additions.
“We now have rock yoga, which is a yoga class with strength training,” Johnson said. “We also have a mommy-and-baby yoga in there.”
Johnson said he and his staff are looking to add yoga birthday parties and weekend yoga workshops in the studio for 2013.
More importantly, however, Julison said the Sachs Center in 2013 remains a community and family-based center for general fitness and activities, with more updated equipment and facilities than before.
“What’s nice is that it’s more of a recreational setting for the whole family, where you’ve got everything from personal fitness training to pickup basketball games,” Julison said. “We’ve got dance, Pilates and the swimming pool.”
Also new to the park district this year, Julison said, are upgrades to the playground at Maplewood Park.
“There is new equipment being installed, and will be ready to use this spring,” Julison said. “We’ve also earmarked new playground equipment for the tot lot in the Tree Trail Park, and new benches along the walking trail.”
Julison said this year’s Summer Sampler at Mitchell Park is already in planning as well.
“We’ll have some different band groups that come out there on Sundays, late afternoon to early evening, starting in June,” Julison said.
The Deerfield Park District’s winter and summer camp brochures are posted now on its web site, www.DeerfieldParks.org.
