Keep-fit stalwart Kate retires
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FOR the past 30 years Kate Stewart has been running keep-fit classes in Thurso but she has now decided to hang up her trainers.
She and her husband Sandy, who taught English in the town’s high school, have retired and are planning to move to Alford in Aberdeenshire in the next few months.
Kate told the John O’Groat Journal this week she would have “mixed emotions” about leaving the area after 33 years.
She worked latterly as a child services worker but before that spent 13 years employed in a dental surgery. She also worked at North Highland College.
Kate described the keep-fit classes as a hobby which she enjoyed doing over the past three decades.
She qualified in Edinburgh and over the years undertook further courses. She decided to start classes shortly after moving to Caithness but did not anticipate they would last 30 years.
“I have been planning to retire ever since I was 50 but people kept saying you can’t retire, so it just didn’t happen,” explained Kate.
Her classes were well attended and included a few members who were with her from the start.
Kate said it was mostly women who went to her classes but there were men who took part as well.
One of the highlights of her 30 years was when her team won the Scottish Keep Fit Championships in Edinburgh in 1987.
“That was quite a high. It was fantastic to win that,” she said.
Kate liked doing the classes, enjoyed the friendship of the members and kept in touch with many of them.
To mark her departure, a party was organised in the Park Hotel. It was attended by about 30 people including some of the original members and some more recent ones.
“It was a good night and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was brilliant,” she said.
Kate and Sandy live in Morven Place and have a son, Michael, who works as an events manager in London, and daughter Jill who teaches English in the north of Italy. They also have a granddaughter, Elena Spragg, who will be two on Tuesday.
Keep-fit enthusiast Cynthia Calder, who helped organise the party, said: “Kate’s dedication and commitment will be missed by everyone who attended her classes over the past 30 years. She always kept up with the latest trends of keep fit and that helped to keep the classes fresh and interesting, as well as encouraging the younger generations to come along and give it a go.
“Kate always made everyone welcome and over the years had football and rugby teams attending, as well as individual men. The classes were fun with lots of laughs. However, Kate was always professional and made sure that everyone was doing the exercises in the right way to ensure you didn’t overstrain or injure yourself. She cared about everyone who attended her classes and knew everyone by name.
“Kate may be small in stature but she made up for it in personality and heart. She will be missed by everyone who met her. We all wish her the very best for her move to Alford and for her retirement.”
