New Lenox woman with rheumatoid arthritis has led class at Joliet YMCA for over 30 years

JOLIET – Angie Manheim of New Lenox has been leading the same aquatic exercise class – Rusty Hinges – at the Smith Family YMCA on Briggs Street for 36 years.

And Manheim, 87, has no plans for retiring. Manheim, who leads three classes each week, said she will be there some day with her cane.

Danielle Krohn, the aquatic director at the Smith YMCA said Manheim “has a very loyal group of participants” and “still draws a lot of new people.” Krohn said she averages 25 people a session.

Despite its name, Rusty Hinges is not just for the elderly or the arthritic, although three people in the class are 93 and have been coming to the pool regularly for 15 years. Everyone is welcome.

The class has included people with multiple sclerosis and individuals recovering from strokes. Manheim recalled one 9-year-old boy with juvenile arthritis who was sent to her from the former Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago, now the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago.

“In three weeks, he threw his crutches away,” Manheim said.

In each session, Manheim leads the group through more than 65 exercises that work the body from top to bottom. The exercises are slow and work the muscles and joints. But Manheim stresses there is no pressure to do them all. She encourages her students participate to the best of their abilities and to pay attention to their bodies.

“If it doesn’t feel right,” Manheim tells them, “don’t do it.”

Manheim was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis when she was in her 30s. She said she spent 14 years feeling miserable: on medications, pain relievers and gold shots. Her jaws were locked, she couldn’t eat. At 36, her five kids were a big help. In fact, Manheim said, her 3-year-old daughter “was taking care of me.”

In the late 1970s a family vacation to the Ozarks changed her life. While there, Manheim said she sat in the waters of North Fork Lake for three hours one day with her niece. It felt great. So good in fact that she said she needed no medication all that week.

Manheim said her son encouraged her to come to the pool at the YMCA when they returned home, which she has continued doing.

“When you are in the water there is no pain,” Manheim said. “But if you’re going to do it, you have to keep it up.”

Although her wrists are ‘locked’ Manheim said she hasn’t taken medication for her arthritis for years, only vitamins and an occasional Tylenol when her back acts up.

Despite the benefits of water therapy, Manheim said that when she was first asked to lead an aquatic class – sponsored by the Arthritis Foundation – she hesitated. Manheim knew nothing about teaching such a class, she said.

But Manheim said her doctor thought she should do it, because Manheim would know exactly how the other participants felt. So she looked up water exercises at the library and went ahead.

Reva Coles of Elwood has been coming to the classes for two years. Coles has had two hip replacements and her doctor feels the class is good for her.

“It’s great,” Coles said. “It works.”

Connie Dillon of Joliet, who also has arthritis, has been a member of Rusty Hinges for three years. Dillon said she didn’t want to end up in a wheelchair and had heard water exercises might help her, which they have.

“You really notice the difference when you don’t come,” Dillon said.

That may be why Inez Tezak of Joliet has taken the class for 22 years and Pat Witkowski of New Lenox has taken it for 30 years. Witkowski, who has had knee and back surgeries, uses a cane and said she has trouble getting around, but she is not complaining.

“Without Angie, I wouldn’t get around at all,” Witkowski said.

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IF YOU GO

WHAT: Rusty Hinges

WHEN: 11 a.m. to noon, Monday, Wednesday, Friday

WHERE: Smith Family YMCA, 1350 S. Briggs St. Joliet

ETC: Free for members. Fee for non-members. Join the YMCA in January and the joiner’s fee is waived. Regular membership fees apply.

CONTACT: 815-726-3939