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Brief History of The Longfellow Clubs
The Longfellow Clubs were originally indoor tennis-only clubs built in Natick in 1969 and in Wayland in 1972. Laury Hammel founded a business in 1972 that was committed to excellence in tennis, good health, and fun. In 1980 Laury moved his business with new partner Myke Farricker to Wayland, purchased Longfellow in 1980 and expanded to include the Natick facilities in 1985. In 1999, The Longfellow Clubs partnered with a new state of the art multipurpose facility called The Adirondack Club in Franklin. This club offers the same facilities and traditional values that Longfellow has built itself on since 1972. Longfellow is in the business of supporting people in achieving their health and fitness goals. In addition, the business of Longfellow was founded with a specific philosophy and purpose.
The Longfellow Mission
"To build a world where everyone's basic needs are met, and people experience
love, happiness, and fulfillment. To create a model organization, through
the development of successful health and recreation clubs, that works
toward the attainment of our global vision." Financial profitability is
an important bottom line at Longfellow, and equally as meaningful is our
social bottom line. We not only hire accountants to audit our business
and assess our financial bottom line, but we hire business consultants
to audit our business and assess our social and environmental bottom line.
Everything we do at Longfellow must pass through a values filter. We regularly
ask ourselves questions like, "Will this program make a positive impact
on our world?" "Is our business doing all we can to make our world a better
place?" and "What can we do enhance the health and well-being of our community
locally and globally." Because of our active commitment to our community,
Longfellow has received many awards including the New England Socially
Responsible Business Award in 1990. The following examples of how this
philosophy is manifested in the world serve as excellent illustrations:
Business for Social Responsibility
In 1988,
Laury Hammel gathered like-minded business leaders and founded the New
England Businesses for Social Responsibility, and in 1991 he founded the
national organization Business for Social Responsibility. This organization
has since grown to include over 1000 businesses and is currently playing
a major role in promoting socially responsibility in businesses throughout
the world.
Handi-Racquet Tennis Program
In 1977, Laury and Vicki Hammel founded the nation's longest running tennis program for children with special needs. Under the leadership of Sylvia Swartz, each week Longfellow staff, members, and friends offer young people the joy of playing tennis. Longfellow has provided coaches and facilities for Massachusetts Special Olympic teams.
Sportsmen's Tennis Club
The Sportsmen's Tennis Club is an inner city indoor/outdoor tennis club with a long and proud tradition of teaching inner city children tennis and life skills. Unfortunately, recently Sportsmen's had fallen on hard times and was close to going out of business. In October of 1997, Longfellow signed a $1/year contract to manage the Sportsmen's Tennis Club. This partnership, has become a genuine success story. Since October 1997, Sportsmen's has quadrupled the number of children being taught; the physical facilities have been renovated; the debt has been retired; and there are now plans being made to expand the facilities to meet the increasing demand.
Earth Day and Environmental Responsibility
Longfellow has been community and national leaders in the area of energy conservation. Working with BSR and the national group Climate Wise, Longfellow has developed a number of environmentally sound practices that have set standards for other clubs and businesses. In addition, Longfellow organized annual Earth Day activities for the metro-west are for several years.
Symposium on Spirituality and Business
In 1998, Laury and Vicki Hammel worked with Andover Newton Theological School to form the Symposium on Spirituality and Business. This was an inspiring and successful event bringing together people from several nations and of diverse faiths and ethnic backgrounds.
The Longfellow Clubs Philosophy
The Longfellow Clubs philosophy is based on the ancient concept of balance, a dynamic condition of equilibrium, proportion, and harmony. Long term health and happiness is achieved by organizing our lives in a balanced manner that effectively challenges our mind, nurtures our body, and inspires our spirit. Each of these three components of our being dramatically impact each other and are intimately connected. When you exercise, your mind is stimulated and your spirit is uplifted. When you educate yourself and challenge your mind, you understand the value of exercise and you feel more at ease with the world. When you feel fantastic and alive, you are highly motivated to treat your body as a temple and your mind as a vast treasure of opportunity. At Longfellow, we offer programs that consciously deal the whole person and work to fully integrate our mind, body, and spirit.