February 15, 2023
Picture of New England Fitness. Photo by Emily Bontatibus
By Emily Bontatibus
Various military flags are hung up on the walls of New England Fitness, a local gym in Topsham, Maine. The small space holds several machines and many veterans.
Maine has the fifth highest percentage of veterans in the nation, according to this research conducted in 2023. Topsham is located near an old naval air station and is just 20 miles from a U.S. Army reserve training center.
“I went into Marine boot camp right after high school, and after Marine boot camp spent three months in Okinawa, Japan, and then was stationed stateside,” said Lionel “Beau” Beaucage, owner of New England Fitness.
Born in Indiana, Beaucage ran track for the U.S. Marine Corps. Eventually he was a rifle and pistol range instructor in Cherry Point, North Carolina. His father was in the U.S. Air Force and met his mother, then they relocated to Maine.
After leaving the Marines, Beaucage decided he wanted to keep helping people.
“I started off just as a personal trainer, working with injured people,” he said.
Beaucage has been the owner of New England Fitness for 17 years, previously working in offices all over the state as a personal trainer.
Members of the gym will give Beaucage flags of their specific military division, and he gladly displays them. Due to local property laws, he is not able to display military flags outside his gym, so he set them up inside. The flags that are currently displayed are the U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force, Airborne forces, U.S. Marines, U.S. Army and a National League of Families.
Though the gym is a hub for veterans, Beaucage stated that he wants all kinds of people to come to his gym, so he avoids advertising his business as such.
Picture of military flags in New England Fitness. Photo by Emily Bontatibus
However, vets still gravitate toward New England Fitness for a community.
“With vets, we understand each other,” said New England Fitness employee and Navy veteran Monica Jackson-Brown.
Also born in Indiana, Jackson-Brown was in the Navy for 20 years. She was stationed in Nevada, Japan, Diego Garcia and several other locations. Jackson-Brown landed in Maine with her husband who was previously stationed here.
Always active in her youth, Jackson-Brown joined the Navy in 1981. Her roommate was a competitive bodybuilder.
She said, “I learned from her the things most women are afraid of, like getting bulky and stuff like that.”
According to a study conducted in North Carolina and published in 2018, exercise can help veterans manage their PTSD symptoms.
“I wish when more people felt down and depressed, instead of trying medication, that they actually gave the gym a chance,” Jackson-Brown stated.
Jackson-Brown expressed that she wishes her presence in the gym welcomes newcomers and makes the community inclusive, since she hates hearing of others' fear of the gym.
“Gym people are the most welcoming people ever!” she exclaimed.
Other gyms around Maine may be full of equipment and have a bigger space, Jackson-Brown said, but the community that belongs to New England Fitness always pulls her back to the tiny Topsham gym.
Though, the gym will not be tiny for much longer.
New England Fitness will be expanding into the spot available next door, stated Beaucage. He is working on getting other businesses to work out of the building, too, to increase attraction.
All will not be lost if the gym expands, as the community holds solace in each other and their military pasts.
Jackson-Brown reflected on the small but mighty home that is New England Fitness, she said “I came in and spoke to five people before I even put my bag down.”
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