Name Dropping | Edwards’ gym focuses on both fitness, nutrition

Gunnar Edwards wants to change lives.

Some people have told Edwards that his Rally Point Fitness business in Tuscola has done more than that. It’s saved their life.

“That’s why I wanted to build it, to give people that escape,” said Edwards, who owns and operates the fitness center with the help of six coaches in an 11,000 square feet building at the Tuscola Outlet Shops mall.

An eight-year Army veteran who served in Afghanistan, Edwards struggled when he returned home, turning to drinking. That began to change in 2018 when he graduated from the Fitness Training Program at Parkland College and became a certified personal trainer.

Edwards’ original goal was to provide an outlet for veterans and first responders to cope with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and their well being in general. It’s evolved into more of that.

Edwards saw his membership totals grow so fast at his original two locations that he moved Rally Point into the larger locale at the mall.

“We were growing too fast,” Edwards said. The original building “was too small for the amount of members we were signing up.”

He estimates Rally Point, which focuses on nutrition as well as fitness, has grown to between 400 and 500 members.

“Some people come from Champaign,” Edwards said. “Once in a while they come from Mattoon, Monticello. People are driving for it.”

Bobbi Ward, who has been a member for two years, was hesitant to join a fitness center.

Forty pounds overweight, “I was very intimidated to walk into a gym,” she said.

Those 40 pounds have come off.

“I was amazed by how I felt absolutely no judgment, all encouragement,” Ward said. “Not only from (Edwards) but all the members at the gym.”

She said Rally Point combines workouts and proper nutrition with fun challenges

“They gave me a starting workout routine,” Ward said. “It was only three days a week. They also gave us accountability. You also had to report what you were eating.

“They were checking on our nutrition. The accountability piece was a huge attraction to me. They made it fun.”

There is an online community where members can encourage each other.

A challenge, which Ward called “good natured,” was also presented to see which group could lose the most weight.

The challenge culminated with a red carpet evening, a black tie affair where the men dressed in suit coats and the women in “nice dresses.”

“Gunnar recognized members who had a lot of success with the best before- and after-pictures,” Ward said.

“He does a really good job of celebrating the success of his members.”

He does things differently, hires DJs, does potlucks and other things to make it a family-community atmosphere.

A veteran herself, Ward appreciated the fact that Edwards gives membership discounts to those who have served in the military.

Edwards attributes much of Rally Point’s success to his commitment to it. He’s usually present from 9 to 5.

“We didn’t want to just throw some equipment in a complex,” Edwards said. “We’re here to save people’s lives.”

Edwards said people have told him their medical lab tests are normal for the first time in five years since they’ve started at Rally Point.

“We’re not just a facility,” he said. “We’re a community that’s trying to help you.”

Edwards said the number of friendships he and others have developed is “one of the coolest things that have happened.”

People have been involved in others’ weddings because of the lifelong friendships that have been developed.

Edwards, who is 33, lives in Tuscola. He enjoys hanging out with his 5-year-old daughter “and tries to do some awesome, cool things with her.”

“If I’m not with her or at the gym I might find myself in a cabin to escape reality for the weekend” near Galesburg, he said.

Hannah Shields of Rantoul has been named Rantoul Exchange Club student of the month for November.

The senior at Rantoul Township High School ranks first in her class with a grade point average of 5.782. She is a daughter of Rick and Lori Shields.

Shields’ school activities have included volleyball team all four years and softball team her freshman and sophomore years.

She has been awarded for excellence in honors intermediate algebra and excellence in honors chemistry.

She has been involved with National Honor Society since 2023 and served as that group’s treasurer for 2024-25. Shields has been involved in FFA and student council all four years of school.

She has been certified in CPR and first aid.

Shields had contributed about 35 volunteers in her junior year and the beginning of her senior year.

She volunteered at Ronald McDonald House cooking meals, made tie blankets as a donation to cancer patients, created a pet food drive for the community center and built an animal blessing box for the community.

She has been a cashier and filer at Shields Auto Center for several years, babysat children from ages 1-11, was a lifeguard at Hap Parker Aquatic Center and a barista at Starbucks.

Shields started her own photography business in 2023.

She plans to attend college to obtain her registered nurse and bachelor’s of science in nursing licenses. Her goal is to work in a hospital setting in pediatrics, gynecology or the intensive care unit to ultimately become a nurse anesthetist.

“Murder Happens,” a mystery novel set in Urbana by Westville native Jim Courter, has been published by Histria Fiction. The book is set in the fictional Lincoln Court, a small boutique shopping mall in Urbana.

A description of the book:

“Solving murders isn’t part of Devin Cleary’s job description. As a security guard at Lincoln Court, he has busted shoplifters, prevented the homeless from making the mall their home and even rousted a few bathroom dope smokers.

“When the mall becomes the site of multiple murders, Cleary is caught up in a web of intrigue that may involve a contractor’s ambitions for redeveloping Lincoln Court into a megamall. He is positioned to sniff out clues that the police miss.”

Courter now resides in Macomb. This marks his third published mystery novel.

His essays have appeared in The Chronicle of Higher Education, Smithsonian and on the op-ed pages of the Chicago Tribune and the Wall Street Journal.

The Illinois Basketball Coaches Association has announced its 2025 Hall of Fame class, which includes several former players and coaches. The Hall of Famers will be formally inducted at the IBCA’s annual banquet May 3 at Illinois State.

Coach inductees:

• Tim Kohlbecker, Tuscola High School, girls coach

• Tim Lavin, Champaign Centennial High School, boys coach

Player inductees:

• LaToya Bond, Urbana High School

• Tony Davis, Danville Schlarman, played with New York Knicks/European leagues

• Jim Williams, Danville Schlarman

There’s a national championship team in Danville.

The Danville Area Community College eSports team won the MarioKart 4v4 NJCAA championship.

The team of Michael “D.C.” Canady, William “Moses” Landis, Braden Bulla and Tyler Mahoney won the final tournament round against eight teams.

“The beauty of eSports is that a small college like DACC can not only have a nationally ranked eSports program and hang with the bigger schools but have a chance to win a championship,” said Guido Esteves, director of Audio/ESports/Community Outreach at DACC.

While three-fourths of the team are first-year college competitors, Canady, who is team captain, has a national championship ring competing in the MarioKart Singles competition.

This is the first year the DACC team has competed in MarioKart 4v4, though they competed in MarioKart Singles and Smash Brothers Crew last year.

Ben Keating of Urbana, a senior at Lawrence University, Appleton, Wis., is the winner of the Wisconsin Division of the National Music Teachers Association’s Young Artist Piano Performance Competition.

A student in the piano studio of Catherine Kautsky, the George and Marjorie Olsen Chandler professor of music, Keating advances to the regional level of the national competition.

The Young Artist competition includes students of both undergraduate and postgraduate studies.

“The competition is really stiff,” Keating said. “It’s a great way to both meet other pianists and get feedback from professionals and teachers.”

Vermilion Advantage has named Mike Levin as its as the Vermilion County trustee.

Vermilion Advantage recently entered into an agreement with Vermilion County government to run the county’s trustee program, which is an effort to recoup delinquent taxes on behalf of the taxing districts of the county.

The county trustee manages properties the county has taken ownership of through the tax-delinquency process.

Levin joins Vermilion Advantage with a background in public policy, initially as a staffer in the Illinois General Assembly.

He has extensive knowledge in housing policy, working in government affairs for many years for both the Illinois and Nevada Realtors in both Springfield and Las Vegas.