TR PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER — Kim Snow cuts the ribbon on her new fitness facility in Reinbeck, The Center: Rural Fitness and Wellness, last Tuesday afternoon. Those in attendance for the ceremony included, from left, RCDB member Mike Rickert (Snow), RCDB member Tom Boheman (obscured), Linda Rickert, RCDB member Marion Boyer, Center’s Sue Buskohl, RCDB member Jean Silver and RCDB member Dale Wambold.
REINBECK – Kim Snow puts fitness at the center of Reinbeck and hopes that it will stay that way in the foreseeable future.
Last Tuesday, the 1992 Gladbrook-Reinbeck graduate officially cut the ribbon on her new facility, the “Center: Rural Fitness and Wellness,” in the presence of community members.
“It’s a pretty long story,” Snow said when asked about the company’s beginnings. “My dad had a shed where he kept all his cars, and I always thought it would be cool to turn it into a gym, but it was on a residential lot.”
Snow’s late parents, Dean and Penny Snow, lived in Reinbeck for a long time before passing away in 2020 and 2019, respectively. Both worked for Lincoln Savings Bank and were also heavily involved in several community organizations and in the education of their only daughter.
After graduating, Snow – an athlete, personal trainer and multiple Ironman competitor – left Reinbeck to attend North Iowa Area Community College (NIACC), where she played both volleyball and softball before later enrolling at the University of Northern Iowa, where she earned a degree in cartography.
For the past 15 years, she has lived and worked in St. Petersburg, Florida, where she ran Kim Snow Personal Training at a private gym she opened in 2018—a facility her parents always called “The Center.” Shortly after her father died, she realized it might be time to come home.
“My lease was up down there (in Florida) and they raised the rent. So I came back here to run my (personal training) business,” Snow explained. “I always had my eye on this property because of the trees and the outdoor grass area. I saw my parents struggle physically (as they got older), and it was hard to watch. And they had no place to go.”
Snow opened “The Center,” as the new facility is colloquially called in honor of her parents, last January, following a groundbreaking in July 2023 on an empty, tree-lined lot in the east of the city, across from the future home of the Reinbeck Fire Station.
Providing local people with a brand-new facility where they can achieve their fitness and wellness goals while staying close to home was certainly the main reason for their decision to build the center, Snow said, but it wasn’t the only impetus.
“The other reason was the fact that I am the main figure in my family. I am an only child. I am not married. I wanted to leave something behind. My mother and father served the community in so many ways. I wanted something to outlive us in some form,” she said.
The new fitness area, located in a bright blue building surrounded by a walking path, is a beautiful space both inside and out and is packed with equipment – including treadmills, ellipticals, stationary bikes, NuSteps (including recumbent ellipticals), steppers, rowing machines, stationary bikes, freehand machines, dumbbells, free weights, squat racks, a barbell rack and more. There is also a small locker area right next to the main entrance.
“We all have brand new cardio equipment,” Snow said.
TR PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER — The Center, a new fitness facility on the eastern outskirts of Reinbeck at 101 Progress Dr., is pictured Tuesday, Aug. 20. The facility is owned and operated by Gladbrook-Reinbeck Class of 1992 graduate Kim Snow, a personal trainer and coach who lives between Reinbeck and Florida. She founded the center in memory of her late parents and grandparents — Dean and Penny Snow and Harold and Lucille Snow.
The facility also hosts group fitness classes, including Yoga with Yuko and Reboot with Kinsey Dinsdale, but Snow said she would be happy to offer more if there is demand.
While the center is accessible to paying members (day passes are also available) with a key fob from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays and 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends, the facility is also staffed Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Monday through Thursday from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.
The facility also has a branch of Endurance Physical Therapy, which is managed by physical therapist Dana Schmidt of the Grundy Center.
On Tuesday afternoon, as several people used the fitness equipment in the background, members of the Reinbeck Community Development Board lined up next to Snow — including her former high school economics teacher, Mr. Wambold — to watch her officially cut the ribbon on her new facility. While the community supports Snow’s plan, she said, some are a little skeptical about the venture.
“People thought I was crazy, but so far we have 215 members,” Snow said proudly. “We haven’t even been open for a year.”
She said her goal is to reach 800 members – a target that would certainly put fitness at the forefront of a significant number of the city’s residents.
“It’s for the city,” Snow said. “That’s what I want to leave behind.”
The Center: Rural Fitness & Wellness is located at 101 Progress Drive on the outskirts of Reinbeck. For more information, including how to become a member, visit https://thecenter-reinbeck.com/ or follow the company’s Facebook page.
A legacy page on Snow’s website describes in more detail the intentions behind her founding of the center (see below).
“This fitness facility is dedicated to the community of Reinbeck in loving memory of the Snow family: Frank, Emma (great grandparents), Harold and Lucille (grandparents) and Dean and Penny (parents). All were lifelong residents who took great pride, made endless contributions through several local organizations and supported our community and its residents with helping hands and whole hearts. Without them, this facility would not exist. I wish that their memory lives on for many years and generations to come.”
