I am always excited to see an advertisement or read an article in the Progress about fitness programs being offered within the community. However I was disappointed to read the article (Fitness Class Offered By Coop. Extension: Progress, Oct. 5, 2011) on the new zumba class being offered by the cooperative extension office in Logandale.

The cooperative extension office is funded via the University of Nevada, which is a public university and therefore receives tax dollars. The local cooperative extension office has a paid staff and a facility which includes several buildings with which to operate. This compound is funded at least in some part by the taxpayers.

Given the current economic status of the state of Nevada, should our tax dollars go to funding fitness classes for the community? More importantly should these tax funded fitness classes be in direct competition with the fitness classes offered by the entrepreneurs in our community?

Yes that’s right, we do have ongoing fitness classes offered in the community, but the article made no mention of these. Both zumba and pilates classes are offered several times a week and taught by certified instructors.These instructors were certified at their own expense, not the taxpayers’. These local instructors pay for the facility with which the classes are held and incur the expenses for necessary marketing and the equipment they use; they get no taxpayer funding.

These local fitness instructors live in the community and supplement their family income with money earned from the fitness classes. The money is spent at our local stores, gas stations, schools and charitable events.

Perhaps the cooperative extension could have worked with these local fitness instructors to help them grow the fitness programs currently offered. Possibly providing fitness equipment or day care to local residents would be a more supportive role for the cooperative extension to play with regards to growing fitness programs in the community.

Perhaps there is a need in the community for all the fitness classes, but the local fitness entrepreneurs deserve as much recognition and publicity from the local paper as the taxpayer supplemented fitness programs.

Thank-you for the opportunity to express my opinion.

Pam Toulouse