Weight Watchers members support each other after Alpena studio closes
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ALPENA -- Local residents trying to stay healthy were dismayed last week when they were surprised with the news that the Alpena Weight Watchers studio is closed.
An Alpena institution for 50 years, the business was shuttered abruptly last week after the owner of most Michigan studios, Detroit businesswoman Florine Mark, sold her franchise to WW International.
Staff at the Alpena studio was informed last week that the new owner closed the business, saying they would revisit opening the Alpena and other closed Michigan studios at a future date, Kara LaMarre, coach at the studio, confirmed.
Studio staff sympathizes with members at the loss of personal support and camaraderie, LaMarre said.
In recent years, the studio saw an attendance of 150 people per week, with members from Rogers City, Hillman, and other communities across Northeast Michigan.
WW International will allow members to continue to participate in the company's weight loss programs virtually. That's not enough, though, said member Karen Gonsler, of Hubbard Lake.
Active with the weight loss program on and off since 1997, Gonsler was three pounds away from losing 100 pounds when she got the distressing news the studio was closed.
"What's the first thing you want to do? You want to eat," Gonsler said.
Diet guidance and other aids -- still available to members virtually -- are helpful, she said, but the in-person component of the weight loss program can't be replaced by a computer.
For some, the face-to-face conversation and heartfelt sharing that happens at meetings is a lifeline when confronting an addiction to something they need to survive, Gonsler said.
"We get it," Gonsler said. "We're in each other's shoes."
For a time during 2020, the studio was closed to in-person meetings because of COVID-19-related restrictions. Some members continued virtually, but online meetings didn't cut it, according to Gonsler.
"As soon as they opened the door, we were, like, beating down the door," Gonsler said.
The Alpena studio got its start in 1971, when Shirley Cliburn called Weight Watchers leaders in Traverse City and begged them to come to Northeast Michigan.
"We need you in Alpena," Cliburn told them. "We're full of obese people, and I'm one of them."
She was near the end of her rope 50 years ago when she started an aggressive weight loss regimen, dropping 110 pounds in one year, Cliburn said.
The first Alpena Weight Watchers studio was at the Boys' Club, then located on Chisholm Street, on the grounds of the county's annex building across from the courthouse, according to Cliburn.
"We filled the place," Cliburn said. "And now it's gone."
Judy Mathewson, of Alpena, used to go to meetings half an hour early to talk to other members as they arrived.
Being together provided accountability, comradeship, and encouragement that helped members make healthy choices, said Mathewson, who has used the program's services since the early 1990s.
"This is what I count on every week," Mathewson said. "To see my friends, to be able to share and be open and truthful and get advice. We're family."
Not willing to accept a closed door as a roadblock, Mathewson has rallied a dozen other members of the studio to take matters into their own hands.
They're meeting on Thursday at a local restaurant, just to support and be there for each other, Mathewson said.
She'll bring spiral notebooks and a scale from home, in case anyone wants to weigh in. Maybe, if they keep meeting, she'll cover topics the other members want to hear about.
Most of all, though, they'll be together.
"We've learned enough to know what to do," Gonsler said. "And the biggest part of it, anyways, is encouraging each other."