Seniors strut stuff at mall

The mall doesn't open for another two hours, and yet the typical distant swishing of the floor sweeper or incessant buzzing of a vacuum can't be heard. Instead, it is the squeaking of tennis shoes and conversations of dozens of walkers that echo throughout the building as they make their laps around. Most of these walkers are part of the Strutters Club, a group co-sponsored by the University Mall and Southern Illinois Healthcare. The members walk the perimeter of the mall in the mornings before the stores open and attend monthly programs on various senior health issues. Decked out in outfits ranging from sweat pants and a Strutters Club t-shirt to a wool sweater and lipstick, the Strutters walk in groups and chat while winding throughout the mall.

"If someone waves or says hi, they are a strutter," said Marjune Wiswell, who became a mall walker in 1986. It is not only the exercise and health programs that attract the members of Strutters Club, they also get to know each other and become friends, said Frances Gilles, who worked for SIUC as the chief academic advisor for the College of Education before retiring.

"I think it's always a benefit to be with people who have common interests," Gilles said. "Most of us, of course, are older people now, and as you get older I think it is even more important to have connections with other people." Gilles has always been a walker. She would walk the 10 to 12 minute hike from her home to the College of Education twice a day, every day when she worked for the University. She and her husband would also walk around Campus Lake. However, once the walk got too cold and long, they sought out a different location and found the mall. "I know I feel better from walking." Gilles said. "You know, some mornings I'll get up and I'll feel kind of tired and I think, oh, do I really want to walk? Once I get out here and get going I'm always glad I did." Bernice Wiley, a Strutters Club member who has walked in the mall for the past 10 years, is more interested in the exercise than the social aspect of the club.

"I use it for my health purposes," Wiley said. "I've had two heart attacks, and I'm still going, and it's been 11 years since I had my first one." Vanessa Bollmann, mall marketing director, and Tonica Anderson, education coordinator for SIH Senior Advantage Program, put together a monthly program for the members of Strutters Club. The programs are held every first Tuesday of the month at 8:30 a.m. "Typically we try to have health-related topics or a senior related interest," Bollmann said.

In addition to a speaker, the members are served juice, coffee and donuts. They can also get their blood pressure checked or have any health questions answered by Anderson. "I might be old, but I'm not dead," joked Jim Prowell, a 1955 graduate of SIUC, as Anderson took his pulse. Prowell keeps track of his blood pressure and pulse monthly by recording it on a calendar. He jokes around that if his blood pressure is high in a particular month, it is because of Anderson's beauty. Prowell recently received a total knee replacement, and said the walking makes it feel better.

"It's just something I have always done," said Prowell. "All my friends are out here too, so it makes it easy." Since many of the members come walk at the mall almost daily, they have gotten to know each other very well, Anderson said. She looked around and confirmed that she knew everyone by name that was in attendance. "You see them pretty regularly, and you find if one of them is not here, you worry," Bollmann said.

Each member keeps track of their mileage every time they walk in a logbook at the front Customer Service Desk. A lap around the mall is just under a mile, and most members do several laps, said Bollmann. "Most of these members are very social people," she said, "so this is just another social event on their calendars. They are very active people."