Meet Mike at Battle Ground Fitness

Members at Battle Ground Fitness know employee Mike Moore of Battle Ground by name, and their kids ask to go to the gym “to see Mike.” You can hardly talk to someone about Battle Ground Fitness without hearing about Mike. 

Moore, who will turn 72 years old this month, joined Battle Ground Fitness when it was just an office trailer in the parking lot, months before the gym was ready to open. He was just looking for a place to work out, but it wasn’t long before he was part of the staff, and he’s been a morning fixture at the front desk for nine years now. 

Moore works the 4 a.m. to 11 a.m. shift on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, down from the five days he used to work. It wasn’t always so early; he was opening the gym at 6 a.m. when a couple of guys asked him if they could come in earlier, and he said, “Sure.” Opening time is now officially 5 a.m., but Moore said, “I’m so programmed into being here, I keep coming at 4.”

As we talked Moore glanced out the window and said, “It must be shift change!” Member Julie Rettinghouse of Battle Ground had arrived, her workouts so routinely punctual that he could time his shift by them. 

Moore pays attention, and he gets to know more about the members than just their workout habits. And it goes both ways; Rettinghouse hired Moore’s granddaughter to pet sit for her when she went on vacation.

Members arrive with treats for him, coffee, and sweets and candy. 

“I get spoiled,” Moore said with a grin. 

Member Bill Denney agreed. “He’s got the hook-ups,” he said. “Everybody brings him treats.”

And he’s not above mischief, according to fitness trainer Michele King. 

“I teach, and he distracts my classes,” she said with a laugh.

He’s been involved with a gym for most of his life, said Moore, and always worked out to stay healthy. But he never thought he’d be working in a gym.

“It’s a happy place for me,” he said. 

Moore enjoys getting to know the members as much as they enjoy him. 

“People feel very comfortable stopping to tell me about their life,” he said. He makes a point to learn everybody’s name, and to learn something very simple and personal about them. It can be a little thing; maybe they have a cat. He spent his career in sales, where “you learn to do that,” he said.

“I always tell everybody they have to walk through the door with a smile, or they have to go back out and do it again,” Moore said.

His attention doesn’t go unnoticed. Member Ali Wing said, “I’m a fan, too. I stay at this gym because it’s so great to see him when I come in.”

The kids coming through on their way to the play room all know Moore, and stop for a high five or a fist bump. And, of course, one of the treats Moore keeps stashed at the desk just for them.

Last November, Moore was off work for a couple of months for a back surgery. He received two get-well cards from gym members – with nearly 150 signatures squeezed into every inch. Members came to his house to check on him when they didn’t see him at the front desk.

Moore has roots in the northwest. He spent part of his childhood in Cathlament, WA, and his father grew up in Amboy. When his son-in-law announced plans to relocate the family from Sacramento, CA, to a job in Battle Ground, Moore said, “You’ve got to be kidding.” Moore spent his working years in Santa Cruz, CA, but after retirement he and his wife moved to Battle Ground “to chase grandkids.” 

When he’s not at the gym, Moore likes to head onto the back roads on his Harley Davidson Heritage Softtail, which he’s had for 22 years. And for a while he had a second job in the evenings, just because it was fun. When he first moved to Battle Ground, he walked into the Portland Rose Garden to buy tickets for a Bob Dylan concert, and “the next thing you know I was working there,” he said.

He worked in guest services, helping ticket holders find their seats. He worked at every home Blazers game for three years; he had his own section to work, and he loved getting to know the regulars with season tickets. In addition, there were concerts and other events, up to 16 per month. 

“It was so much fun,” he said.

Moore really had no plans for retirement except to putter around the house and spend time with his grandkids.

“I never expected I’d be doing what I’m doing,” said Moore. “It’s fun.”

He doesn’t plan to leave Battle Ground Fitness anytime soon. 

“This is one of the best neighborhood gyms I’ve ever been a part of,” Moore said.