Gymnastics club, Lintelo
Gymnastics club S.S.S. Irene – short for the Dutch Sport Staalt Spieren (‘Sport Builds Strength’) – was founded on 7 May 1956 during an extraordinary meeting of Lintelo’s Belang. All of the roughly 30 people present spontaneously signed up as members. A committee was elected and S.S.S. Irene became a reality. Membership fees were set at 20 cents per lesson for children and 30 cents for adults.
There was lengthy discussion about purchasing gymnastics equipment, including the possibility of buying second-hand apparatus. It was also decided to make a collection round between ‘hooien en St. Joapik’ – in other words, during the first half of July. Residents were asked whether they wished to become supporters and could also make a voluntary contribution towards the club’s first equipment. The collection raised 1,690 guilders, while promised annual donations amounted to 249.50 guilders.
The club wanted new parallel bars and rings because of the possible risks posed by defects in the existing apparatus. Other equipment, such as a vaulting box, balance beam and horizontal bar, was to be made by local craftsmen. The firms Rutgers, Van Lochem and Klein Wolterink were approached for this purpose.
The first gymnastics lessons for primary-school children began on Thursday, 3 January 1957. Around 70 members took part in the first lessons. Later that January a nursery-age group started with 30 members. Adult groups began on 1 March. A year later S.S.S. already had 180 members.
Over the years many different sports have been added. In the 1980s the Meer Bewegen Voor Ouderen programme (‘More Exercise for Older People’) was introduced. The opening of a new sports hall in 2008 further expanded the range of activities, enabling everyone within S.S.S. Irene to take part in a sport they enjoy.