Canandaigua Fitness (and the concept of our $5 drop-in community fitness classes) was actually born under the Canandaigua Zumba name in October of 2010.

In Sept of 2010, Donna found out her daughter Rachel had an eye disorder when she failed her Kindergarten vision screening test in one eye. Turns out her “good eye” was doing all the work b/c she had an obstruction of vessels in her weak eye that was causing her brain not to use that eye.  All babies have these vessels in vitro to transfer nutrients from mother to baby (kind of like an umbilical cord in the eye).  Normally, these dissipate within the first two months of life enabling vision to be clear.  For some reason, hers never did in that eye and the brain just learned not to “talk” to that eye anymore, favoring the strong one.  If left undetected too long, this can lead to blindness.  The treatment is to patch up the strong eye and force the brain to start using the weak eye.

Obviously, if this is detected early, vision improvement is more rapid.  In most US cities, preschools have vision tests to detect this kind of thing or most pediatric doctors check vision (covering one eye at a time) before age 5…but this wasn’t the case here.  So, in October of 2010, Donna decided to organize a Zumbathon® fundraiser to bring preschool vision screening to Canandaigua Preschools.

She contacted Coleen Avery and they quickly broke down those self-imposed competitive barriers to successfully bring ongoing vision screenings to our area preschools!  Coleen & Donna worked so well together on this that they decided to carve out one night a week to teach a drop-in community Zumba® class together.  It was wildly successful so they added another night…and the rest is history.  They are both certified to teach other types of fitness classes and now offer community drop in fitness classes together with other instructors, 7 days a week for Canandaigua Fitness!  Their progression from once a week Zumba® classes to their current niche -a full-fledged Canandaigua area drop-in diverse group fitness offering to the entire community is a great story that they love telling!

CONTACT US

The best way to contact us is email: CanandaiguaFitness@yahoo.com

You may also call or text Donna Bennett at (585)298-0116.

We also usually arrive 30 min before each class. Check schedule here!

Looking for a career opportunity? Please email us at CanandaiguaFitness@yahoo.com if you are a certified, self-insured professional with a class you feel would rock our CF world! As you can see from our schedule,we believe that fitness is comprised of body, mind, and soul components.  So, think out of the box – if you have a unique offering, let us know!

Have a comment, question or something you’d like to share? Please email us at CanandaiguaFitness@yahoo.com