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14 | THE COLONY NEWS | JUNE 2023 | OUTREACH TO HISTORY By Rita Nastri Our homes in The Colony weren't always the hot commodity they are today with frequent and quick resale and increased values. When The Colony homes were built, the developers had to entice new buyers to this sleepy little town of Murrieta to the concept of an active adult 55+ community. What better way to do this than have a celebrity at a Health Fair sponsored by developer Brock Homes on Sunday, Sept. 22, 1991! At the time, the health celebrity for seniors was the self-proclaimed court jester of health, Richard Simmons. Residents were standing wall to wall exercising with the inexhaustible energies of Simmons. He displayed his creativity when he asked those who had gone to church that morning to join him on the stage and had everyone doing aerobics to an evangelical revival song. He was an inspiration to all present when he related how he weighed 217 pounds when he was about 10 and maxed out at 268 when he graduated. At the time of his appearance, Simmons was 43 years old and said he still suffered from cravings for the wrong foods. He advocated removing all the junk foods from your house, but not to give it to your neighbors. His simple truth was, "You are what you eat," and his solution to a healthy body was based upon three things: exercise, eating right and being positive. A health walk through The Colony followed his low impact aerobics, after which Simmons remained available throughout the day for conversation and autographs. To this day, residents continue to exercise to a Richard Simmons video viewed at 10 am in the Auditorium on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings. It's free and fun. Information for this article was retrieved from e Colony Newsletter archives. If you are interested in history, give me a call at 951-698-8640 and join our Outreach to History research team. Mary Ann Plummer and Richard Simmons An early mailer marketing the new community, e Colony RICHARD SIMMONS COMES TO THE COLONY

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