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Show Page 10 The Ogden Valley news Volume XIX Issue VI June 15, 2011 Dance Instructor Offers Free Classes through June Celeste McKinney has always loved to dance. Because of her passion, she decided to open a dance school—Ballare Dance Studio—teaching a variety of dance genres from Bollywood to Hip-hop. McKinney explains that Ballare means “to dance” in Italian. Through the month of June, McKinney will be offering a FREE and fun Dance Aerobics class at the Huntsville LDS church gymnasium on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. Anyone wanting to participate is welcome. McKinney moved to the Valley over seven years ago. She states, “We love it here, although the things we love about it can also make it a little inconvenient. I grew up dancing, and love it. It has always brought me joy to be able to express myself through music and body movement. When we moved to the Valley, the closest dance studio was in Ogden so I started teaching dance in my family room to a group of ten young neighborhood girls. Once a week, I had the privilege of teaching some basic dance techniques and fun dances to these energetic girls. It was therapeutic for me to be able to have an excuse to do something I loved, and a great experience for the girls to learn something new and to have fun. Since then, my student numbers have exploded! I now teach seven classes and my students range in age from preschool to high school age. I teach all different styles and genres of dance with basic dance technique. It is important to me, and I try my best to keep age-appropriate and clean music, dance movements, and costumes.” McKinney’s students recently performed at their annual dance recital at Valley Elementary. Each class performed three dances. McKinney will begin offering dance classes again in September. She teaches during afterschool hours on Wednesdays and Thursdays. For more information, contact Celeste McKinney at <cmkinney11@netzero.net> Ogden Valley Residents Help Cleanup Ogden Valley residents help with the cleanup in the aftermath of a microburst that toppled trees and caused major damage in Huntsville. Photo by Richard Sorensen. On Saturday, May 14 residents performed a roadside cleanup of Powder Mountain Road. Pictured rom left to right: Morgan Turner, Denise Daniels, Justin Ward, Ryder Sutton, Nick Bierwolf, Shannon Fallon, Jillian Turner, and Meg Baker. Subscriptions available for out of area residents at $18.00 annually. Send payment with mailing address to: The Ogden Valley news P O BOX 130, EDEN UT 84310 www.snowbasin.com TOPS Suggests a Fresh Approach to Summer Fitness With a new season comes water with the water level between ankle and new opportunities for a fresh start in every aspect of life. Members of TOPS Club, Inc. (Take Off Pounds Sensibly), the nonprofit weight-loss support organization, make the commitment to living a healthy lifestyle and share their knowledge of fitness and wellness on a daily basis. “The change of season is an excellent opportunity to make a change in a fitness routine,” says Amy Goldwater, M.S., educator, former body building champion, and physical fitness expert for TOPS. “No single exercise can universally meet the needs of all people. We all have various levels of skill, motivation, and fitness. It’s important to choose activities that fit your interest and capabilities.” Goldwater notes that fitness practices don’t always have to be organized activities. A day at the beach offers a wide variety of exercise opportunities that participants might not have considered. For example, shoveling sand to make a sand castle can be great exercise. “Picking up rocks and shells will work the lower back, hamstrings, and quadriceps,” Goldwater says. “A carefree game of keep-away or tag is ideal to increase the heart rate. Simply walking or running on the sand can give the body a work out as the unstable nature of this surface means the body has to work hard to balance— resulting in more calories burned and a great work out for core muscles. Sand workouts are also easier on the joints, making them less prone to injury or strain.” Other suggestions for waterside activities that require little or no previous training include: • Beach football - a great workout for the legs and buttocks. • Frisbee - burns calories, works the upper back and arm muscles, and provides good cardiovascular conditioning if running is involved. • Volleyball - ideal for arms, legs, and core muscles. • Water walking or jogging - a great warm up or work out. Walk or jog along the edge of the knee height. The water adds resistance and makes the activity more challenging. You could even walk near the water and challenge yourself not to get your feet wet! There are a variety of other indoor and outdoor activities to consider when refreshing a fitness plan. Activities like bench stepping and water exercise (in the pool) provide cardio and resistance workouts without creating excessive wear and tear on joints and muscles. Bench stepping involves stepping on and off a low bench (four to eight inches high) and combines the cardio intensity of running with the gentleness of walking. Moving the arms will increase the intensity. The force of the impact from bench stepping is about the same as the impact from walking. Aquatic exercise, including swimming, water walking, or running, can be suitable for all people, regardless of their level of swimming skill. Water exercise can improve aerobic capacity, muscular strength, and flexibility. These activities can provide an excellent training stimulus, and place much less stress on the joints and muscles than similar activities performed out of the water. Goldwater notes that where exercise is concerned, people often forget that it’s okay to be creative. Many physical activities not only lead to increased fitness but also allow for individual expression. “Even though there seem to be fewer ways to catch a pass or hit a tennis ball than there are ways to dance or move to music, the opportunity for creativity exists in all activities,” she says. “Exercise and staying in shape can develop more than just your muscles!” TOPS Club Inc. (Take Off Pounds Sensibly), the original, nonprofit weight-loss support and wellness education organization, was established more than 63 years ago to champion weight-loss support and success. Visitors are welcome to attend their first TOPS meeting free of charge. To find a local chapter, visit www.tops.org or call (800) 932-8677. to return to the original takeoff spot if commuSUPER BOWL cont. from page 1 nications are severed, and the ability to carry a transponder that broadcasts its location to other aircraft and airport systems. The Avenger is arm to further the business. Wilson also joined the firm as a partner, powered by 10 HP electric motors (enough horse filling the role of Chief Operating Officer power to run your riding lawn mower), and flies and General Manager to oversee the business under FAA authority. It can fly to an altitude of portion of what was now Leptron Industrial 12,000 feet, and is also capable of flying in 65 Robotic Helicopters, Inc. Additional people mph winds. It can cruise up to 75 mph. In Ogden Valley, the Avenger has been used were hired, and a building was acquired at Ogden Hinckley Airport as production needs in accident investigations by the Utah Highway increased. Wilson stated, “Since both John and Patrol on Highway 39, to gather mountain vegI are both pilots and airplane owners, some of etation information and to execute water dam our most enjoyable business meetings are con- inspections. Avenger was also used during a ducted in Utah’s west desert on remote landing recent search for a suicide victim. In addition to the UHP, to date the Avenger strips.” The new version of John’s original con- has been used by the Drug Enforcement Agency, cept came to life as the “Avenger,” a fully the Utah Department of Agriculture, USDA, auto-piloted, drone-type helicopter with aircraft and several police and SWAT teams, as well as redundant systems, including a GPS system that other “unmanned agencies.” The ship’s primary takes advantage of both U.S. and Russian satel- mission is surveillance, and provides real time video transmislite systems, giving sion to a command the Avenger GPS station as well as accuracy within a both still photo few centimeters. and video capture. The Avenger can be The Border Patrol programmed from has tested the heli a ground-control and is currently system and/or be considering addflown by a pilot ing the Avenger to with a hand conits equipment list. troller. Some of the Leptron has also on-board systems been working with include ground tera defense contracrain following, an Leptron Avenger at the Super Bowl. tor and the U.S. on-board flight transponder, object lock-on and follow capabil- Army for integration onto the Stryker armored ity, and an auto return home and land feature if troop carrier and Abrams tank. The Avenger was recently selected by USSOCOM (United communication is lost with the ship. The Avenger offers solutions to multiple States Special Operations Command) as their needs from the ability to take photos of wild- UAV of choice. Leptron also has off-shore conlife for accurate herd counts and management, tacts for possible use in other countries as sancup close GPS coordinate photos for range tioned by the US ITAR (International Traffic in land management, FLIR (Forward Looking Arms Regulations) program. Leptron Helicopter platforms are not just Infa-Red) camera operations for search and rescue, police searches in brushy areas, wildfire RC helicopters but are integrated with a fully management, location of marijuana fields, and automated autopilot that takes the guess-work and difficulty out of flying a helicopter in high monitoring mountain snow levels, etc. The Avenger helicopter system flies with a winds, extreme temperatures, high altitude, and full autopilot system that includes several FAA extreme conditions. This allows the vehicle to mandated safety features, including the ability transform into a platform that has been reserved to limit flight altitude, flight range, the ability for full-sized aviation airplanes and helicopters. The calibrated Nikon camera system is fully wireless and offers users the ability to simply point and shoot from the ground. The helicopters can also carry HD video and fire detection cameras. Leptron offers a suite of FAA COA processes and procedures. Leptron also provides a 40-hour training class for those interested in becoming Avenger pilots. Much of the “hands-on” flight training is done in the openness of Ogden Valley. For more information, visit www.leptron. com or call Steve Wilson at 801-621-1414. Wilson also owns Mountain Valley Realty, and uses the Avenger as a photo ship to capture unique photos of houses, properties, and views for those who list their properties for sale with him. *Event was North Texas Media day held January 22, 2011, and quotes are excerpts from CBS, FOX and NBC coverage. |