Mary Taylor of Lake Leelanau started her eighth year of teaching tai chi to Leelanau County residents at Solon Township Hall Monday.
She’s teaching low-impact exercise classes through the fall and winter to give back to the community, both by sharing meditative activities with health benefits and by raising funds for township parks through her nominal class fees.
“The biggest benefit of tai chi is sharing it, learning together, and it helps improve the health of people,” Taylor said. “We call it meditation in movement sometimes. That always helps people. I charge a minimal fee, and every dime goes right to the township, through the parks committee.”
Taylor explained that she grew up in Leelanau County but spent much of her adult life – including nearly 35 years in education – away from northern Michigan. Once she retired and moved back, she said she “felt like I owed something to the community, because I had been gone so long” and soon became involved with the Cedar Chamber of Commerce and Solon township parks and recreation committee.
Taylor began her story by describing the time she met her husband, Mike Taylor, when they were both teenagers. Mike lived near Washington D.C. but had relatives in Leelanau County. One summer, he got a job on Garvin’s Farm in Cedar. During this time, he met Mary, and the two fell in love. Mary recalls it as “a summer fling that never ended.” They’ve been married for 50 years.
This almost immediately altered the course of Mary’s life. Previously, her plan was to enlist in the U.S. Air Force in the nurse corps to help pay her way through college. Instead, Mike helped her get in touch with an older friend in the D.C. area who offered her a job, which Mary eagerly accepted. From there, she was able to earn enough money to join Mike at the University of South Carolina.
Mike and Mary would briefly move back to Michigan to attend Michigan State University (MSU) as the former earned his master’s degree in geography and the latter her bachelor’s degree in biology and teaching certificate. Mary spent about three years working in an MSU research lab studying breast cancer.
Ultimately, though, the couple settled in Sarasota, Florida, to be closer to Mike’s parents. Mike became an urban planner for the city, while Mary spent most of their 35 years in the sunshine state in public schools. She started as a teacher in biology and physical science and chemistry for 13 years before earning a master’s degree in administration and curriculum at the University of South Florida in Tampa.
Upon completing her master’s, Mary served as an assistant principal at several schools for 20 years. She says that the administrative role was very demanding and often required her to attend varsity athletics and other extracurricular activities. And in the meantime, she sought to raise two children. But in 2014, Mary and Mike retired and returned to Leelanau County.
Often, Michigan retirees move to Florida to get away from the harsh winters, not the other way around. But Mary said that they returned to be nearer to family, as her parents, aunts and uncles, and brothers and sisters all live in northern Michigan.
After such a busy career, one might expect Taylor to settle in and enjoy her retirement. But instead, within two years, she got involved in the local chamber of commerce, parks and recreation committee, and election work. She’s no longer vice president of the chamber, but she is still on the parks committee.
Taylor said that she originally joined the parks and recreation committee because she could see that the township’s community park and river park needed improvements to its playground and Americans with Disabilities Act-compliance to make these outdoor public spaces more accessible and enjoyable for everyone.
Making improvements here and the two other townshipowned parks required money. So, Taylor helped the parks and recreation committee apply for grants and organized fundraising events. One of the ways she earns money for the parks has been teaching tai chi classes with her husband Mike since 2016.
“Mike had started tai chi first, and he kept wanting me to come, and I didn’t. I thought, ‘I go to the gym and work out for an hour and a half three times a week while my daughter is doing gymnastics,’” Mary recalls. “But then, I had an issue with one my hips, and my doctor said, ‘don’t do the elliptical anymore.’ So, I gave tai chi a chance, and it helped immensely. And I went from being another student to an instructor.”
The couple host classes every other day at the Solon Township Hall on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, with an intermediate/ advanced class taught by Mike at 9:30 a.m. and a beginner class taught by Mary at 10:30.
