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On Saturday afternoon the community gathered to
welcome another new business to Lincoln with a ribbon cut. Ethan (Tappy)
and Emilie Tapscott are opening Imago Dei Pilates at the Dugan
Center on North McLean Street in Lincoln. The cut was held on
Saturday with the first official day of classes starting on Monday,
June 16th.
Gathering with the Tapscott’s behind the ribbon were
several family members including Emilie’s parents Virgil and
Kathleen Low, along with Amie Kenney, Jeff and Katie Hoinacki, Troy
and Jantina Lowe, Lonnie & Bridget Tapscott, and Sadie, Oliver, and
Emmalyn Hoinacki. Also in attendance were Lincoln Mayor Tracy Welch
with aldermen Kevin Bateman and Dennis Clemons and Logan County
Board Member Lance Conahan.
The ribbon cut was led by Karen Castelein and Nila Smith of Lincoln
Daily News.
Before the ceremony began, a blessing on the couple
and the new business was delivered by Emilie’s father Virgil Lowe.
The first to speak at the event was Tappy. He
explained that Imago Dei means in Latin “the image of God.” He said
that the goal was for every person to feel good about who they are
in their bodies and to not fall victim to stereotyping of what a
perfect healthy body should be. “They need to know that they are
made for a specific reason, and they don’t have to be shamed by how
their body looks or how they move.”
Emilie said that the hope was that everyone would
grow and improve their functional body. She said they wanted to
improve the health span, to help people be able to be more
functional, to be able to enjoy getting around, maybe getting down
with kids and grandkids and being comfortable and able.
Emilie said she wanted to thank everyone who was behind the ribbon
with her and Tappy, as all of them had played a part in setting up
the business and getting the space ready for classes.
Mayor Welch was also asked to speak. He told the
group that small business is the heart and soul of Lincoln, and he
was excited to welcome another new business into the community. He
also commented that it was good to see a business that was so well
supported by family.
With the speeches quickly concluded it was time for
the group photo then the snipping of the ribbon.
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Afterward, everyone was invited inside to view the
class area and enjoy some healthy snacks including all natural
protein drinks made from a product the Tapscott’s will offer for
sale at Imago Dei Pilates. Prior to the
ribbon cut, LDN met with Emilie and Tappy to talk about their new
venture. At that interview Emilie explained how it came to be a new
business venture for the pair. She explained that back in 2017 she
was looking for a healthy exercise routine that would be easy on her
knees because she was already having trouble with them. She had
searched around and tried a few different programs but was not happy
with what she was finding. Then she discovered Pilates and found it
to hold several of the answers. However, she at the same time
discovered that Pilates was easier to perform using a special table
called a reformer. She said the tables were much more comfortable
than a matt on the floor and made it easier to look forward to her
exercise and to stick with it.
The problem was, there was no one locally that provided Pilates
using reformers. She said to get what she ultimately wanted she had
to drive to Peoria.
After a lot of consideration, Emilie said she and Tappy came to the
conclusion that this was a beneficial program that the community
should have access to if they wanted it. No one should have to drive
that far to find a healthy program that worked. They then decided
that they would become certified instructors in Pilates using
reformers.
Emilie said that the certification program took six months and hours
of mentored classes. So, the two finally got their certification
earlier this year. Then there was the question of what to do with
it.
Emily said that they had taken vacation time in March and during
that time they gave the question over to prayer and sought guidance
and blessing on starting a new venture.
Finally they came to feel comfortable and called to do this work in
the community.
Tappy, who has spent the past nine years as a pastor said that prior
to Emilie's involvement, he had never heard of Pilates. But he
started taking the classes with her, which focus on core
strengthening and stretching, he said as a result of the time he has
spent with the program he has experienced decompaction in his back
and is now one inch taller than when he began. Tappy has now
committed himself to offering the classes to the community and will
become the full time instructor at Imago Dei while Emilie will also
be there on a part-time basis.
The couple said that Emilie’s brother and sister-in-law Troy and
Jantina Lowe own the Dugan Center and had space available for Imago
Dei. It took a lot of work to get the training room prepared for
classes and the couple had a lot of help from other family members
including Jeff and Katie Hoinacki, Amie and Kate Kenny, Ethan
Hoinacki and his family and several others.
With the mirrors and tables in place, the pair are
very well pleased with the calm, quiet and lovely setting they have
created for their clientele.
Now they are ready to begin populating their class time slots.
Emilie said they are going to hold groups to small numbers of six
which allows everyone to have plenty of space and get adequate
attention for the instructor. They will work to accommodate the
needs of the community by holding classes as early as starting at
5:15 a.m. and as late as 6:15 p.m.
Each class will be one hour long and can be booked online.
For more information about Imago Dei Pilates and to sign up for
classes visit the website at
imagopilates.com
Nila Smith
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