Mahlums, Montana Athletic Club donate equipment to high school

By FAITH MOLDAN / Bigfork Eagle

Doug Mahlum, owner of Montana Athletic Club in Bigfork, and his wife Nancy were unsure of what to do with more than 30 pieces of circuit training machines when the club started replacing everything in its weight room. They did what any good parent, neighbor and citizen would do.

The Mahlums officially donated the machines and benches to Bigfork High School Feb. 12 in hopes that it will benefit athe students at the school in a number of ways.

"We have kids at the school and some coming up," Mahlum said. "We wanted to give the kids an opportunity to use good equipment and become stronger and better."

Mahlum estimates the total worth of the donation to be about $120,000.

"They're all in really good shape," Mahlum said of the machines. BHS Activities Director Shannon Smith agreed.

"They're the best machines you can buy," Smith said. "It's probably a good thing for both of us."

The equipment currently sits on the stage in the high school gymnasium where the school used to house its free weights. The free weights were moved to the new concession building after its completion. Smith said the machines would be used by both student-athletes and students in weight-lifting, speed and strength and physical education classes after BHS faculty and coaches learned how to get the best use out of the equipment.

"It's a great donation for fitness," Smith said. "The PE classes can really use this kind of stuff."

The school currently does not have room enough to house all the equipment, so Mahlum is storing the remainder of the machines for now in hopes of more room at the school if the high school bond passes.

The donation is one of many ways the MAC aides students at BHS. MAC offers students with 4.0 grade-point averages a free student membership. Mahlum said 45-50 students currently have the free membership, which the club has offered for about eight years.

"It's nice to reward them too," Mahlum said of the students with good grades who do not necessarily participate in athletics.

A plyometrics class, in conjunction with the school's Viking Gym program, is also offered. Mahlum said it's available to athletes in any sport and gives coaches more tools to work with.