Needless to say, this hurricane has been historic as predicted.  Hundreds of thousands of local families and businesses have been adversely affected, some of them still without power, not to mention the devastation across several states.  For our part here at home, we tried to do everything possible to accommodate our members and the community by opening in the dark on Tuesday allowing members to take shelter even though there was no power.  They used the fitness center and the brown gym utilizing natural light.  

By Wednesday we had power and invited folks to shower, eat and charge up their cells and computers.  Our hallways were full of members checking in with work or loved ones using our power to make connections. 

We have had countless numbers of you thank us for opening our doors when everyone else was closed and for being here throughout the storm. In fact, one member said that we made our club "like a home" for everyone.  We very much appreciate that. 

It is our turn to thank those here at the NAC who really made all of this possible beginning with Joel Eckert, Director of Member Relations, our man on the scene every single day and night.  Joel spearheaded all of our efforts to accommodate the community by physically opening and closing the club and by being here every hour of every day. Since we never closed for even one day, that was a daunting task.  Joel arranged for the cleaning staff to be here late on Tuesday night when the power did finally return.  They worked till the wee hours to be sure the club was clean and ready for our members the next day.  On Tuesday, when we were open in the dark, Joel was here to manage the facility along with Brandi Perkovich, Aquatics Director, Amanda Kongisberg, Sales Director, Kim Levins, Urban Allure Salon & Spa Director and Jeff Ritter, Fitness Director.  By Wednesday, when we did reopen with power, our NACafe was overwhelmed with customers, yet Chef Jeff Harris rose to the occasion.  After several additional runs for more food he ended up serving 17 dozen eggs, 80 lbs of chicken, 12 lbs of bacon, 15 lbs of turkey and 12 lbs of tuna in a 2 day period.  Thank you, Jeff!

We realize that although our facility is well equipped and state of the art, it is the people who work here that give it heart and soul.  It is during times of true adversity that you see people coming together to help one another and we appreciate our staff for their dedication to not only the club, but to the entire community.

We wish everyone in the entire community and beyond well, as you recover from the effects of Sandy.  You are all in our thoughts at this difficult time.

Check out our pictures of people powering up at the NAC on Wednesday.

To see more details about the NAC and Sandy click here.