The exercise group is one of her most recent ventures. She began the program in 1991 under Garnett Davis at the old Breakers. Davis motivated her to participate after Tucker had a total knee replacement and needed to exercise the joints. After deciding to pursue other activities, she turned the program over to Tucker in 1992, and she has been coordinating it ever since. For the past five years, they have been located in her church. Instead of paying for the classes, she asks her participants to give donations to the church.
The exercise is called a low-impact exercise, designed to increase strength and flexibility, she said.
"Very often seniors think that walking is the only thing they have to do," she said. That does help with cardiovascular health and strengthens the legs, but "it does not work the body's entire system of muscles and bones," she explained.
The class begins with a warm-up walk, then a variety of exercises sitting down and standing up, and she also picks a line dance. It could be the macarena, or perhaps the chicken dance, where the dancer flaps his or her "wings" and wiggles, she said, demonstrating the dance for the reporter.
The group will also do "bumps and grinds" (pelvic tilt and hip rotation), she said. Some members also use small weights during exercise, and at the end the class does a cool down. All of this is done to music on tapes that she mixes herself.
"Once they get started, they see the value of regular exercise," she said.
The exercise also prevents osteoperosis, improves balance, concentration, and therefore memory, and is "a good way to forget your worries and your woes," she said.
Anyone interested in joining the class should contact Alice, she said.
Military life
In addition to her exercise class, she also has been involved with the U.S. Air Force Auxiliary, a volunteer program that ran rescue missions, since 1977, was an administrative assistant for civil service, and serves as president of the Literacy Council.
She flew over 200 hours on search and rescue missions for the air force as an observer with a master rating, she said. She also worked as an encampment commander for three summers and at the air force base for CAP cadets in Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio. Through her work there, she eventually earned the rank of lieutenant colonel.
One time, her mission was involved in breaking up a drug operation when it spotted someone cultivating illegal drugs while flying low, but she never was involved in an actual "find," she said.
She graduated from the National Staff College in Alabama in 1978, the Air University Squadron Officer School at Gunter AFB, Alabama, in 1979, and U. S. Coast Guard Search and Rescue School at Governors Island, New York, in 1980. Her awards include Commander's Citation, Meritorious Service, and Exceptional Service.
But her life in civil service actually began in 1941 at Fort Knox, and from there she moved to Florence, S.C.; San Antonio, Texas; the Veteran's Affairs Hospital in Lexington; France; then to the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. After her stint at the Pentagon, she retired from civil service. She and her husband moved to Atlanta after that as he continued his career in the military.
Her late husband, N. Lee Tucker, also served several duties for the Air Force, including commanding detachments of special agents for the Office of Special Investigations, provost marshall and commanding the air force squadron in France. After he retired in 1967, the next year they came to Winchester so he could take the job of city police chief.
"That made the transition from military to civilian life easy," she said.
After their retirement, she and her husband, who passed away in 1985, focused on the Civil Air Patrol. She is still a member, but is no longer active with the volunteer group.
Tucker's life transitioned even further in their move to Winchester, as she moved from serving the country to serving the residents of one county. In 1985, she helped get the Winchester-Clark County Literacy Council started, inspired by the late Hazel Hieronymous. Tucker currently serves on the board of the council as president.
