When Kim Bird died a few days before Thanksgiving, dead of valley fever at 45, the gymnastics coaches at Oregon State broke the news to Beavers graduate assistant coach Courtney Dennison, who trained in Bird's Tucson gym for 10 years.
She initially thought it was a misunderstanding. Kim was too young, too involved with life; his days were filled coaching about 200 gymnasts at the Tumbleweeds facility, and his calendar overflowed with commitments as an NCAA and USA Gymnastics elite-level judge.
"He told me he was sick, but he didn't say it was serious,'' Dennison says now. "I was flying home for Thanksgiving, and I was going to go see him because he had been such a great friend. I always called him. We'd talk for hours, and I absolutely treasured his advice. He was such a good man.''
After a melancholy memorial service, Bird's friends and families scattered to their daily routines.
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Dennison went back to OSU to complete her degree. Kim's twin brother, Kevin, a Canyon del Oro High School and UA grad, returned to coach high school football in El Centro, Calif.
The 15,000-square-foot Tumbleweeds gym on West Grant Road eventually reopened, but it was not the same. It said "Tumbleweeds'' on the wall, but it should have said "Kim Bird.'' Gymnasts fell away. Coaches left to pursue other interests.
"Kim was virtually a one-man show when it came to the operations of running the gym,'' Kevin says. "He never called it a business. It was a way of life for him, not a job. His kids were simply 'his kids.' He felt he played a mentoring role for them, and that's what made him so successful. So we never considered closing the gym. He told us if anything happened to him, that we were to take care of 'his girls.'"
Over the next few months, Kevin searched for a suitable replacement, someone who could restore the vibrancy to Tumbleweeds and sustain the legacy his brother created in 1990.
Finally, in April, Kevin reached an agreement with Dennison, who, with UA graduate assistant gymnastics coach Jamie Holton, would buy the business and keep Tumbleweeds operating.
"Courtney and I know what it's going to take: It's going to be a 24/7 thing that requires tender-loving care,'' says Holton, 22, a Phoenix native who distinguished herself in four years on the UA gymnastics team, including being a Pac-10 Gymnast of the Week in 2006. "We will be learning as we go, working with bookkeepers, accountants, parents, the gymnasts and our coaching staff, but it's the opportunity of a lifetime, it's an adventure.''
With financial assistance from their parents, Dennison and Holton will begin that adventure today. They are staging an open house from 1 to 3 p.m., at Tumbleweeds, and after that they will be navigating uncharted territory.
They are skilled gymnasts. Now they need to be skilled at everything from organization and discipline to money management and community relations.
Dennison graduates next month in Early Childhood Development. Holton graduated a year ago in Health Education. Starting today, they will major in Real Life.
"Jamie will bring that hard work ethic, desire, determination as a coach as well as her connections to the Tucson community,'' Kevin Bird says. "Courtney will bring her passion, dedication, and experiences of being part of Kim's family. I feel it's a win-win situation. I just hope the parents and girls at the gym can realize that although there are new owners, and new ideas, that the spirit of Kim will remain.''
Dennison has dealt with some significant adversity at Oregon State. Her competitive career, which reached the heights of the NCAA tournament, was prematurely ended when she could not shake a bout with vertigo.
Holton has paid some significant dues. She worked for Gymnastics World owner Yoichi Tomita, a former USA Olympics coach who operates three Tucson facilities. She has trained and coached in gymnastics clubs since she was 6.
To prepare herself for this bold endeavor, she spent considerable time with UA assistant gymnastics coach John Court. He would verse her in reality.
"You're going to have a lot of bills to pay, and you don't have any money saved up,'' Court would say. "It's going to require a commitment of time and patience like none you've ever made. Make sure you understand what you're getting yourself into.''
Ultimately, Holton and Dennison, who have been friends for several years, decided to be partners.
"A lot of our clientele is established and has been built up over the years by Kim,'' Dennison says. "Our goal will be to treat the kids the same way he would treat them. If we can do that, we can't go wrong."
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