SIT AND BE FIT PRESS RELEASES
Press Releases
November 5, 2007 (509) 448-9438
SENIOR FITNESS ICON CELEBRATES 20 YEARS OF SUCCESS
The new 900 Series of SIT AND BE FIT workouts now airing on PBS marks SIT AND BE FIT’s
20th consecutive year on public television. Currently reaching more that 67 million households
on 114 PBS affiliate stations, viewership is growing every year. Bill Stanley, programming
consultant for KSPS-TV and the original executive producer of SIT AND BE FIT, attributes the
program’s 20 years of success to host, Mary Ann Wilson. “Mary Ann’s passion for this program
and the benefits it can bring to the people who do the exercises are extraordinary. It takes a
special person who believes in what they are presenting to people and Mary Ann is that person.”
Mary Ann’s heartfelt commitment to encouraging functional fitness and independence among
older adults has captured national attention. SIT AND BE FIT has recently been awarded the
2007 National Mature Media Award for the Diabetes Workout. This award marks the 18th national
award recognizing SIT AND BE FIT for quality programming. Other award-winning workouts
include the Arthritis Workout, the Osteoporosis Workout, the Osteoporosis Workout II, and the Fibromyalgia Workout.
her students while teaching aerobics to older adults. After designing a gentle program tailored to
her students’ special needs, students began reporting marked improvement in their physical and
mental health. Mary Ann was soon determined to make this low impact exercise program available
on a national level. With persistence, she convinced her local PBS station, KSPS-TV, to produce the program. In 1987 the first series of 30 programs was distributed nationally to PBS stations. Twenty
years later and now a non-profit organization, SIT AND BE FIT continues to greatly impact the
physical and mental health of older adults.
