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Man, 93, honored by YMCA
Man WEB 1
Anton Reel Jr., center, is surrounded by his children, from left, Anton III, Ed and Linda, during a ceremony in his honor Wednesday at the Forsyth County Family YMCA. Top photo, Forsyth County Family YMCA employees Lynn Wark and Jackie Johnson present a cake to Anton Reel Jr., who was honored Wednesday as the club’s oldest member at 93. - photo by Crystal Ledford
When people have excuses for why they can’t exercise, Kerry Carithers, just points out Anton Reel Jr. “I just say, ‘If he can do it, you can do it,’” said Carithers, the senior membership and wellness director at the Forsyth County Family YMCA. Reel, 93, was celebrated during an event Wednesday for being the oldest active member of the facility in Vickery Village.His daughter, Linda, with whom he lives, drives him to the facility three times a week.“I bring him over here around 3:30 in the afternoon and he stays until 7 or 8 o’clock,” she said.Not only does he spend the majority of those three or four hours doing aerobics and lifting weights, he doesn’t cheat when going from the facility’s lobby to the gym areas. “My most impressive thing about him is … he always takes both flights of stairs,” Carithers said. “He never takes an elevator, and that’s a workout in itself.