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Thunder Bay FYZICAL marks 25 years of working with the community

News Photo by Michael Gonzalez Thunder Bay FYZICAL Therapy presents a board with more information about the services their facilities provide at an open house held Thursday.

ALPENA — On Thursday, Thunder Bay FYZICAL Therapy celebrated its 25th anniversary with food, prizes, and facility tours at an open house.

Prior to the open house, Thunder Bay FYZICAL Therapy held events in which they invited five nonprofit clubs around Alpena and donated $500 dollars to each of them. The five clubs were the Rotary, Kiwanis, Optimists, Exchange, and Lions.

“We have invited those service groups in because we recognize how beneficial they are to our community and making it a better place to live,” Thunder Bay FYZICAL Cofounder Teresa Duncan said. “And we just wanted to recognize them also for their efforts.”

Teresa Duncan has led the facility alongside her husband, Bruce Duncan, for the past 25 years. Thunder Bay FYZICAL Therapy has seen many expansions and changes in its lifetime, including a merger with FYZICAL Therapy. The original name was Thunder Bay Therapy and Sports Medicine.

According to Teresa Duncan, the merger did not change any staff or cause any loss of ownership to the business.

To the patients, the stationed staff is what makes Thunder Bay FYZICAL special.

“I know when I first came here, I think my first session with Lisa she told me, ‘you know, by the time this is all done, we’re not going to be acquaintances, but we’re gonna be friends,'” said Sally Perry, a previous patient at the therapy center. “They did so well with me that I gave them each a gift card when I got home. I was so pleased with how they treated me and they pushed me, but that’s OK.”

Perry attended the open house that was located in a few tents in the physical therapy facility’s parking lot. She was a patient with Thunder Bay FYZICAL from March to September after she had fallen down a ladder and needed serious work on her legs.

After 53 visits, she only needs a walking cane to get by.

“We never even dreamed that it would come to be that we’d be here 25 years later, with 30 employees and in programs,” Teresa Duncan said. “It’s really a tribute to our staff. We have a phenomenal staff here. To our community who have supported us all these years… we want to say thank you.”

Michael Gonzalez is an intern for WCMU and the Alpena News this summer. You can reach him at gonza4mc@cmich.edu.

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