Maybe the Northfield Senior Center should be renamed. 

“Senior,” some say, evokes a stereotypical specter of frail old folks, quietly playing bingo over cake and coffee. Nor does it describe the scores of active, engaged and connected Northfielders who congregate daily there to stay fit, improve their minds, spiritually connect—and have a whole lot of fun doing it.

Look no further than Don Forsberg.

“The Senior Center saved my life,” says Forsberg, 68, who is also a fitness trainer at the center. Today, his own physique is its own best advertising for the fitness program, but he says it was not ever thus.

“I had let myself get badly out of shape,” he says. He smoked, was 30 pounds heavier, and going up a flight of stairs left him without breath. A few years ago his wife Mary gifted him with an NSC membership—a not-so-subtle hint, he says.

“I didn’t really want to go,” Forsberg says. “I had never been there, so I thought it would be a bunch of old people sitting around playing cards, eating cookies and gossiping,”

But the self-described former athlete and gym rat was drawn to the center’s modern, well-equipped fitness room.

“Exercise is medicine” became his new mantra, but it was the camaraderie and sharing at the center that was a true balm to body, mind and spirit.

“What I didn’t expect was the welcoming atmosphere, on top of the array of opportunities for fitness that were interesting and engaging,” Forsberg says.

He began working out regularly, and learned that there was much more to fitness than pumping iron. 

Forsberg overcame his machismo-motivated misgivings about classes—classes in yoga, tai chi, and core strength tend to be taken mostly by women—and joined in, using his knowledge of equipment and training techniques—and his considerable charm—to help others learn about and enjoy fitness. 

“I began to understand the importance of fellowship and compassion, and it was bringing me back to life,” he says. “Finally someone said to me, ‘You know so much and are so helpful, why not become a personal trainer?’ My first thought was, ‘I’m kinda old for this.’” 

But he overcame his misgivings, and last year became certified as personal trainer, group exercise instructor and a master trainer of Silver Sneakers, a popular exercise program that employs dance and promotes social interaction. 

Forsberg teaches about five fitness classes a week, all adapted to limitations of age or injury. 

“People of any age or physical condition can benefit from exercise—even in a wheelchair,” he says.

A breath of fresh air

Concrete walls don’t contain Forsberg’s reinvigorated lifestyle, however. 

He and wife Mary Flaten are inveterate hikers and campers, and share their skills by organizing outdoor excursions for Senior Center members—in defiance of the entropy of age.

“You don’t have any choice about aging, but people are wrong when they think that becoming weak and sedentary is inevitable,” Forsberg says. “Becoming frail is not a natural part of aging.”

In recognition of this fact, the couple made a pact with each other. 

“We decided that every weekend, all year ‘round, we would go on a hike, no matter what the weather,” says Flaten, a self-taught herbalist noted for her encyclopedic knowledge of edible plants.

In the warm months, they hit the trails of the state’s parks; in the winter, they snowshoe.

“High-tech gear makes it possible to hike in any weather, if you know what you are doing,” says Forsberg. “It would take a tornado or a hailstorm to disrupt our routine.”       

The pair has elevated camp craft to an art. 

“We always have a picnic, with cloth napkins, a pretty tablecloth, and a vase of flowers that Don picks,” says Flaten of their hikes. “We have gourmet food with wine or beer.” 

They once held their picnic—out of the wind—on a day when the wind chill was minus 40 degrees.

Such commitment is touched with transcendence; once they had mastered the physical rigors of traversing the trails, another dimension opened. 

“It occurred to us that this was a spiritual experience,” Flaten says. “Now it’s not just walking—it’s our spiritual time together.”

Putting this intimate knowledge of Minnesota woodlands to good use, Forsberg and Flaten conduct monthly hikes through the regional and state parks whose trails, flora and fauna they know so well. The outings, complete with congenial campfire cookouts, were so popular last year that they added a Metro Art and History Walk series to explore the cultural offerings, historical sites and other attractions of the Twin Cities. 

Forsberg, a master storyteller like childhood chum Garrison Keillor, provides a knowledgeable and entertaining commentary of little known historical lore.

The tours, like the NSC’s indoor fitness programs, are adapted for any fitness level.

“It’s all about good vibrations,” says Forsberg. “That’s what keeps people coming back."

Editor's note: Active for Life is a regular Northfield Patch feature telling the stories of Northfielders who are active, engaged, connected and just happen to be considered seniors. Know someone who should be featured? E-mail editor Corey Butler Jr. at corey.butler@patch.com