Jumpin’ Joe
MEET MASTERS POLE VAULTER JOE JOHNSTON
CONTENTS
July 2021 3 Note From the CEO 5 Your Take 6 Meet Jumpin’ Joe Johnston
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Inside the 77-year-old Pole Vaulter’s At Home Playhouse
11 Life Lessons from an Olympic Gold Medalist
Rowdy Gaines Speaks on Goals and Successes
14 A Night to Remember
Adventures in Night Cycling with Mary Shanklin
16 What Sup?
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Ned Johnson turns his love of paddleboarding into a career
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NOTE FROM THE CEO
rise from the ashes It’s time to get our phoenix on. The phoenix is a mythical bird from Greek mythology that is said to live 500 years before bursting into flame and burning to ashes. Then, it rises, reborn from the ashes. The phoenix is a great metaphor for life in general. To rise like a phoenix means to emerge from a catastrophe stronger, smarter and more powerful. That’s the challenge that is now facing all of us. We all lost something significant in the pandemic: loved ones, health, businesses, jobs, homes or relationships. We lost the ability to travel and to be with kids and grandkids. Sadly, there is no way to avoid the never-ending and unforeseen challenges of life. There is only confronting them and finding a way forward. Of course, that’s easier said than done. Rising from the ashes requires optimism and belief. It takes resilience and the ability to pivot. It takes Passion + Perseverance, which is the title of our cover story this month. The pandemic nearly destroyed Maxine and Kirt Earhart’s restaurant business. A passion for the business they love gave them the strength to persevere. But they couldn’t have bounced back alone. None of us can. It takes a community of support and encouragement. We’ve lost much in the pandemic but, hopefully, not our desire to bounce back, our willingness to help others, and our belief that the rest of our lives can be the best of our lives. As Maya Angelou once said, “I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refuse to be reduced by it.” We’re battered but not beaten. Together, we can rise from the ashes.
Fountain of Youth Digital Digest July 21
This issue features photography from our new collaboration with award-winning photographer Mike Dunn. @MIKEDUNNUSA
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Volume 46 PUBLISHER Jackie Carlin CREATIVE DIRECTOR Ashley Heafy GRAPHIC DESIGNERS Katie Styles, Sarah Brown EXECUTIVE EDITOR
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YOURTAKE What’s your best tip for aging well?
Be grateful, keep moving, give back, and don’t sweat the small stuff. —@donutsandpiefitness
Laugh a lot and make sure you have young people in your life—of course, they may give you something to laugh about! —Steven E. Bunn
😂
Shed the weight of everyone else’s expectations and perspectives of you. Don’t take things too seriously, have humor even when things are bad. Focus on the step after to get through a trial with positivity. Get out in nature!
—Amy TC
—Cheryl James
Get up, get out, and move. —Mary Therese Jackson Lutz
Smiling makes all your downward wrinkles go away
😊
—Jeanette Menter
Eat clean, move your body and enjoy life!
A sense of humor and a "glass half full" outlook.
—Wendy Foster Rose
—@marilyn.chrisman.9
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Department
Summer 2021
Issue No. 46
"My go-to answer to any malady or problem is always movement. Just get up and keep moving, and that’s what I plan on doing."
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Jumpin’
Meet the Johnstons Story by Marc Middleton Photography by Mike Dunn for Growing Bolder
Joe and Janet Johnston recently completed what may be the world’s most unusual home addition for a couple in their 70s—OK, for any couple of any age. The Johnstons, both retired teachers living on a fixed income, added a 5,000-square foot pole vaulting room onto their 1,800-square foot home. It’s a serious upgrade from the covered pit, dubbed the “Joe Dome,” that sits in their side yard. The initial plan was to tear down the Joe Dome and replace it with a pole-vaulting building on the same footprint. But the county code would allow only an additional 1,000 square foot building on their property. The Johnstons were advised that a variance request would be a waste of time and waste of the $650 dollar hearing fee. Undaunted, they paid the fee and Joe made his plea. He also asked a few friends to attend the hearing and speak to the value that the Johnstons have brought to young athletes over years, by offering free pit time and coaching to anyone wanting to learn or improve. “They made it sound like I was Mother Theresa trying to build a church,” Joe recalled. As expected, the zoning board denied the Johnstons’ request. But with a wink and an obvious desire to help these good people continue their good deeds, they informed Joe that he could expand the house by 5,000 square feet. In other words, call the building a room, attach it to their house and let the pole vaulting begin. And that’s exactly what Joe did. He spent two years building a 5,000 square-foot pole vaulting room, with a 100-foot runway and a 17-foot ceiling. How many people told him he was crazy?
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“I don’t keep a record of that,” he said. The Johnstons definitely aren’t crazy, but both will plead guilty to being passionately optimistic. “We’re at the age that we’ve got more behind us than ahead of us,” 77-yearold Joe said. “So, I do a lot of reflecting. It may be an affliction, this optimistic thing, but it has served me well. I don’t pay attention to the notion that we’re supposed to be taking it easy and declining by the day. I’ve been flat on my face before and got back up. I reckon I can do it again. My go-to answer to any malady or problem is always movement. Just get up and keep moving, and that’s what I plan on doing.” Janet shares the same glass-half-full view. “You can choose to look at everything in a positive light or not,” she observed. “Abraham Lincoln said, ‘Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.’ I think that’s true. We just make up our minds to be happy, and we are.” There is one big change for Janet, who can no longer look out of her kitchen window into a large tree-covered backyard. Always looking for the bright side, she said, “Now I can fold clothes and watch Joe pole vault.” And she doesn’t just watch. Janet, 74, is also a pole vaulter. She doesn’t have quite the competitive resume of Joe, who is a multiple-age group, world-record holder. But she did take home a gold medal at the World Masters Championships in Sacramento a few years back. “I like the confidence that comes from learning a new skill,” she said. “If you’re willing to stretch yourself, you can learn a lot more than you think. Right now, I’m learning to swim the butterfly.” If you think Joe and Janet are wealthy, think again. They’re retired teachers living on a fixed income. “I’m a filthy rich man, but I ain’t got much money.” Joe explained. “I have wonderful things in my life that I deeply appreciate, and that makes me rich. I stumbled onto my soulmate many years ago and somehow managed to marry her. She thinks I’m everything that I aspire to be.” What he aspires to be on a daily basis is active. Joe is up by 6 a.m. most mornings; and if he’s not in the pole-vaulting room, you can find him climbing the rafters and swinging from ropes in the old Joe Dome, which still stands in the side yard. “It’s now basically a ninja warrior playhouse,” he said. What 77-year-old doesn’t have one of those?
OPLEL
Summer 2021
If you’re willing to stretch yourself, you can learn a lot more than you think.
Issue No. 46
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If your ship doesn’t come in, swim out to it.
Fountain of Youth Digital2021 Digest July 21 No. 46 Department Issue Summer
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The Life Lessons from Winning Three Olympic Gold Medals Rowdy Gaines M Y PAT H TO T H R E E O LY M P I C G O L D M E DA L S WA S A N Y T H I N G B U T E A S Y, A N D T H E T R U T H I S T H AT T H E T H R E E M E DA L S W E R E N OT T H E G R E AT E S T R E WA R D FO R A L L O F T H E E F FO R T.
1 I talk a lot about goal setting because it’s really important. You have to know where you’re going in order to get there. You need something to focus on or you’ll get lost along the way. But don’t become so focused on the destination that you forget to enjoy the journey, because that’s what makes you who you are: how you treat others along the way, how you respond to setbacks and how you use your successes to build momentum. My decades in competitive swimming have taught me that those who don’t enjoy the journey — the practices, the traveling, the time spent with teammates — are the ones who rarely, if ever, achieve their goals. Those who savor the process — and realize that the journey is more important than the destination — are the ones who end up on the podium. Set lofty goals, but make sure that you enjoy the daily grind. If you don’t enjoy it, odds are that you won’t be a success — and you’ll have wasted a great of time being miserable.
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The people who ultimately become good at something are those who were OK with being bad at it — at least for a while. Most of us give up too easily and quit to quickly. Life is a series of non-stop course corrections. Being bad at something is a necessary part of the process of becoming good at it. Those who become successful are simply those who are able to endure the frustration of failure. They overcome early struggles because they believe in their potential. They’re able to overcome the self-doubt and fear of failure that we all face. It’s ironic that being bad at something is a necessary part of the process of becoming good at it. How long will it take before you become really good at something? If you’re enjoying the process (see Life Lesson #1), it doesn’t really matter.
Success isn’t accidental. One of the most valuable life lessons I learned as an Olympic athlete is the importance and power of visualization. I swam the 100-meter freestyle final in 1984 a thousand times in my mind before I ever climbed onto the starting blocks in Los Angeles to swim it for real. I visualized a lightning quick reaction to the gun and an explosive start. I visualized every stroke of the race. I visualized how I would feel in the water, how I would execute my turn, how I would respond to the pressure of a close finish and how it would feel to win. And I visualized it all in vivid detail so many times that I actually programmed myself to swim the perfect race. And I did. The mind is very powerful and very mysterious. Plant the seeds of your success by visualizing what you want to accomplish and how you’re going to accomplish it. And then your mind will go to work to help make it happen.
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Fountain of Youth Digital Digest July 21
Download the GB Streaming App Search for Growing Bolder in the app store on your device and soak up our inspirational content anytime of day or night.
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A Night to Remember Mary Shanklin
D E E P D O W N A N A R R OW FO O T PAT H , I N A DA R K E N E D N O R T H F L O R I DA FO R E S T, O U R W E T FAC E S I L L U M I N AT E D E AC H T I M E L I G H T N I N G S PA R K E D T H E F E B R UA RY S K I E S .
Summer 2021
Issue No. 46
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Hypothermia and hunger clawed at us. Our once-merry band of eight friends was more than midway through a 225-mile, bike-camping trip on backroads across Florida. Now we were down to just four. Some bailed for a hotel, and at least one was lost in the woods. Frankly, we were all lost. We knew going into this that the weather didn't look good. But when our Tampa cycling friend, Susan Gryder, texted us all weeks earlier with the plan, we were all in regardless. I mean, how many times do the meteorologists get it right anyway? We pushed bikes with flat tires deeper into the Etoniah Creek State Forest. Soaked and shivering in our spandex gear, we searched for the elusive Iron Bridge Camp Shelter, where we intended to escape the tornado-warning weather and bunk overnight. My friend Rorie scouted the trail ahead. One person had already missed one of the orange trail blazes and gotten separated from the group. We didn’t need to lose another. “There’s a SWAMP!” Rorie yelled back at us. With temperatures dipping into the low 40s, no bullfrogs croaked. Her voice pierced only the sound of rain thrashing the cold, black bog. Disbelief stung more than the downpour. How could there be a swamp? Rorie had purchased the trail notes for this old, natural-Florida route, and there was no mention of such an impasse. We stood paralyzed. If we did the unthinkable—turn back—where would we go? The trail notes mentioned that a mile back there was a bathroom where people on this route had slept before. Had it come to this: Feeling half-starved and sleeping in a bathroom at a stage in life when I should be luxuriating? Back home, my wonderful husband awaited me in our comfortable home with our sweet, little dog. I grew herbs and attended book clubs. I was a grandmother, for crying out loud. How did I get to this place? What were my sane friends doing with their Saturday night? I’ll bet they were sipping pinot noir and grilling marinated ribeyes. Their kitchens probably smelled like baking brownies that they would soon smother in Blue Bell vanilla ice cream. Bastards. Here, on the other side of the universe, at the warped edge of a swamp, one member of our remaining crew began to crack. Another lamented that our friends at the hotel were the ones who got it right. Thanks for that insight. And yet at some point during the many years I’ve ridden bikes, I realized that you never remember the perfect days. Flawless experiences vanish in a sea of smiley cell-phone photos, while the cataclysmic ones become the storied legends of our lives. You can’t buy these adventures, and you can’t find them at home. They are the fabric that defines us. Those shared experiences weave us together like tree limbs wrapped in wet Spanish moss. And then there was the cold reality. Reversing course and
Fountain of Youth Digital Digest July 21
You can’t buy these adventures, and you can’t find them at home. pushing heavy bikes for at least a mile in the rain-pelted darkness—with only a hope of sleeping on a probably disgusting bathroom floor—was demoralizing. The bunkhouse was probably just 100 yards ahead and might as well be in Budapest. The swamp was impassable. With our options played out, we turned around to pay for our mistake. Working our way back, we saw a streaming, single light ahead. It was our wrong-turn friend and the person who went in search of him. Our spirits buoyed, but no one dared forget our situation. We spoke of pitching our tents in a power easement. Or maybe there was a barn somewhere. A nice rat-free hayloft sounded good. With every step, I clung to the idea of an overhang in front of the restroom building. I was ready for anything but the latrine floor. Our bike lights shined on the wet trail ahead to help us traverse fallen trees and avoid slippery rocks. Then we heard the familiar sound of nearing civilization—a car. When we finally reached the dirt road, we veered left and girded ourselves for what was ahead. A sick feeling pitted in my empty stomach. When you squinted, the shape of structures started to emerge in the murky darkness. Suddenly, about 100 feet ahead of us stood the most beautiful, new, spacious picnic shelter I have ever seen. My God, it had concrete floors! Within 10 minutes we were setting up tents, firing up Sterno stoves, unearthing camp food, and digging out sleeping blankets. (Thank you outdoor gear companies for devising waterproof stuff sacks.) The emotional scars from our forest travails vanished overnight. The dawn brought a hint of blue skies. Starbucks instant coffee and Quaker Oats instant oatmeal further revived us. With varying degrees of success, we fixed flattened tires. That third and last day of our trip was picturesque. Our sun-carved shadows danced on the pavement of the Palatka to Lake Butler State Trail. We devoured omelets and hash browns near the St. Johns River at Florida’s oldest diner. We took in the potato fields near Hastings and rode miles of a largely abandoned brick road built in 1916, sometimes called Florida’s Ghost Highway. With the sun at our backs, we ascended the bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway in Flagler Beach. Nearing the age of 70, Rorie looked like a blond-ponytailed teenager as she sailed into the parking lot where we had parked cars just days before. When I got home, I embraced my husband and I told my friends I would never do the trip again—better to plow new ground, I told them. Then, less than a week later, I was plotting a repeat.
SUP? What’s your be own brave dream and job create mike dunn
photos by
by Marc Middleton
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Fountain of Youth Digital Digest July 21
Eleven years ago, in the midst of a down economy, 46-year-old Ned Johnson made a bold move: He quit his job of 19 years to chase a dream. Johnson bought a small stand-up paddleboard business, because he loved the water and believed that the sport’s many health benefits represented a major business opportunity. That was especially true in his home state of Florida, which is surrounded by ocean and has countless rivers and lakes. “I had a passion for SUP (stand-up paddleboarding) and a belief in my ability to build a business around it,” he said. It helped that his wife, Marla, agreed. “Ned works very hard; and if he’s excited about something, he gets everyone to be excited about it,” she said. When Ned Johnson took over the business, it had four boards and a few regular customers. He began personally leading tours in any body of water he could navigate. His passion for teaching, and his contagious energy, resulted in one satisfied customer after another—the kind of unsolicited, word-ofmouth recommendations that money can’t buy. Today, Johnson is 57 and has more than 30,000 customers that include individuals, families and businesses. If it has anything to do with stand-up paddleboarding, he’s done it or is willing to try it. Why has interest in the sport grown exponentially over the past decade? “Because the learning curve is really simple,” he said. “It’s a gentle activity that anyone can pick up quickly and safely. And other than being a lot of fun, the benefits are three-fold and immediate: It’s good for your body. It’s good for your mind. And it’s good for your soul. It’s a great core exercise that requires some mental focus, while being a calming activity. There’s nothing better for our overall wellbeing than reconnecting with nature, and SUP is a great way to do it.” In addition to giving lessons, leading tours and corporate outings, hosting private parties and staging races, Johnson has become the exclusive SUP vendor at Wekiva Island, a unique recreation complex on the pristine, spring-fed Wekiva River in Central Florida. “Just walk up and SUP up,” Johnson said. “It’s the perfect place to paddleboard. There are no boats and it’s wind-protected.“ It’s been a fun and successful decade for Johnson. His business is booming, and a smile rarely leaves his face. “I honestly didn’t think it would be possible to enjoy my 50s as much as I did my 20s, 30s or 40s,” he said. “Was I wrong! My 50s have been incredible. The risk I took 11 years ago was definitely worth it. Every day, I get to do what I love to do. Every day I have an opportunity to meet, influence and bring joy to people’s lives. And I have two healthy children and a loving and supportive wife. If all of that doesn’t make me a rich man, nothing can.” While it has been a successful decade for Johnson, it’s not been an easy one. His story is not about luck or simply being the right guy, in the right place, at the right time. It’s about passion and persistence. It’s about a lot of hard work. “Nothing that I’ve done has ever come easily,” he said. “Everything has literally taken me 10 to 20 years. It takes a long time to figure something out. But that’s OK. I enjoy the process. I never let my early defeats define me. I’ve always been willing, even anxious, to take a step back in order to take two steps forward.”
Unlike many entrepreneurs, who become over-stressed and develop unhealthy habits, Johnson has never lost his focus on or his love for fitness. “It’s actually what led me to SUP in the first place,” he said. “It was a fun way to challenge my body and develop both endurance and strength, an amazing form of cross-training. I work out every single day, one way or another, and I have since I was a teenager. I’m also super conscientious about what I eat. I try to eat as close to the earth as possible, avoiding processed foods. But let’s be honest. I’m not a fanatic. I regularly enjoy stuff that I shouldn’t.” Johnson’s Growing Bolder move 11 years ago was a big risk. They always are. But driven by his passion and a remarkable work ethic, he’s become a great example of an ordinary person living an extraordinary life. His advice for other would-be entrepreneurs? “Belief in yourself, above all else, will help you get where you want to go,” he said. “But you have to take that first step. You have to try. Otherwise, it will just remain a dream. And it helps to have someone by your side to encourage you. I couldn’t have done this without my wife. I’ve been blessed to have a partner who says, ‘Yes! Be brave. Go for it. Take that step!’” Ned Johnson loves the life he’s created and has no plans to make another big change. “This is it. I’m gonna ride this horse into the sunset,” he said. “Life just keeps getting better and better, so why stop doing what I love? Right now, I can’t wait for my 60s!”
‘'Yes! Be brave. Go for it. Take that step!’” A DV I C E F R O M NED' S SUPPORTIVE WIFE
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“Life just keeps getting better and better, so why stop doing what I love? Right now, I can’t wait for my 60s!” N E D O N G R OW I N G B O L D E R
