When Sherri Page and her husband Patrick made the decision to leave South Africa four years ago, she knew exactly where their landing spot in the United States was going to be: Richmond Hill.

“We never considered anywhere else in the United States,” Page said. “My brother David (Pegler) was stationed in the Army at Fort Stewart and we had visited him once or twice for two weeks at a time.

“He decided to stay here and was hoping we could get into the United States,” Page said. “We liked the area and the schools were really good which was a major factor.

“One of our children (two) is autistic and he is thriving…the school system has been really good for him. We came directly here…we never considered going anywhere else.”

It helped, too, that the Pages had a beneficiary in place to help them make their relocation go smoothly and give Sherri a place to open up the now-thriving Richmond Hill Gymnastics Academy.

It was Father Dwayne Varas and the parishioners of St. Elizabeth’s Episcopal Church on Hwy 144 who rolled out the welcome mat for the newcomers.

Page, who said she has been involved in gymnastics since the age of six and operated three gymnastics clubs in the greater Durban area, was offered the use of the parish hall by Varas and she was off and running. The academy is open to girls ages two through high school.

Varas was not only being altruist in helping a newcomer but he also saw this as an opportunity for the church to get further involved in the community.

“Back in South Africa I took an old railroad workshop which was about 10,000 square feet, no windows and the roof leaked and turned it into an indoor sports center,” Page said. “When Father Varas heard that story, he was like that was his vision to get the community involved.

“His vision and my vision were the same. It was the good we want to do in people’s lives. I don’t just teach gymnastics. I like to think I help build confident, independent and happy young people.”

Page was able to attract a modest 15 students the first year. The second-year enrollment jumped to 60 and now she has a robust 220.

The growth forced the club to move from the parish hall into a preschool pavilion which it is still using. However, there have been some changes: what was basically an open air shed with a roof has been enclosed by Patrick and David along with assistance from preschool director Nikole Powell. They installed lighting, fans and heaters as well as insulating the room.

“We don’t have air conditioning,” Page said. “The kids are tough. They train in the elements.”

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The growth enabled the club to put together a competition team in 2025. It currently has 35 members and Page is proud of its success this year.

“The team has really shone on a local and national stage,” Page said. “We had three state champions and 10 of the other gymnasts placed in the top three in their division.

“At nationals held in Knoxville in July we had 16 girls compete and 14 qualified to represent Georgia at the AAU Junior Olympics and we had five national champions.”

The 14 girls who qualified for the Junior Olympics were Ava Cotton, Blake Anderson, Talia Perline, Madelyn Woodruff, Ava Barnes, Emelia Malloy, Aylin Chu, McKenna Jordan, Amy Li, Lydia Li, Jaelynn Hancock, Lucy Barnes, Alina Sifuentes and Aurora Lauer.

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Once the decision was made to immigrate to the U.S., the Pages started the process of getting approved to come to America.

“It was like winning the lottery when we got approved for our green cards,” Page said. “We had passed the medical and met the educational requirements. We brought two bags each.”

Her mother, Suzanne, who also works as an instructor at the club, also came with them. For the first year and a half they lived with David. Patrick is an operations manager with Platinum Paving and Concrete which serves Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama.

The Pages’ next step is applying to become citizens which they can do after five years of permanent residency. In Georgia the naturalization process per the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services normally takes 10-14 months from the time an application is submitted until the final oath ceremony.