Lucas Punkari
The main goal of the District 1A Senior Games, which held their 2011 edition in Fort Frances last week, is to make sure that those involved have a fun and enjoyable time.
And if the feelings of the organizers and the participants involved in this year’s event were any indication, it’s safe to say that the main goal for the three-day event was easily reached.
“I think it was very successful,” said co-chair Donna Law.
“Everyone had a lot of fun, and everyone was able to make some new friends also share a lot of laughs,” Law enthused.
“The weather didn’t cooperate a whole lot, yet the people showed up to take part, and the baby boomers also came out to play,” Frank Dumeney, who captured the gold in cribbage with Renne Dumeney, added.
This year’s Games also proved to be a successful one for those taking part from Fort Frances, as local participants came away with the most medals during the three-day competition.
In the seven events that took place here—which were table shuffleboard, euchre, cribbage, floor shuffleboard, bridge, bowling and darts—area competitors came away with four gold, three silver and three bronze medals, as there total of ten was enough to beat Dryden (eight) and Kenora (four).
Gold medal winners from Fort Frances, along with the Dumeney’s, went to Ralph and Anne Longmuir (floor shuffleboard), Della Barniuk and Mildred Bedard (table shuffleboard) and the bowling team of Betty Robinson, Lori Elliott, Julie Lowry, John Pohanka and Shirley Scofield.
Both shuffleboard events proved to be clean sweeps for local participants, with Vicky Wishart/Gloria Bergner and Della Baraniuk/Mildred Bedard rounding out the podium in floor shuffleboard, while the silver and bronze medals in table shuffleboard went to the tandems of Annie Anderson/Edith Newman and Rita Bagacki/Freda Yuill respectively.
The team of Bedard, Yuill, Bagacki, Beadle and May Matheson rounded out the medals for Fort Frances with a bronze in bowling.
Dryden competitors Sally Rowat and Janice Eger captured a pair of first-place ribbons with triumphs in both euchre and bridge, while the tandem of Doris Soucie and Eleanore Allan struck gold in the darts competition.
Another noticeable aspect of the Senior Games was the sportsmanship seen from everyone, with a fine example coming from Dryden’s Phil Woods, who shared his twenty years of darts knowledge to other competitors during the event
“That’s what I like the most about these games,” Woods, who won a silver medal in darts with Grace Hutchinson, explained.
“I just try to help everyone out, and give them advice with where and what they should shoot for, and things like that.
“But I am trying to keep all of my secrets,” Woods laughed.
That fun and easy-going atmosphere was easily apparent for event co-chair Nick Wihnan, who has been involved with the Senior Games since 1985.
“This has been one of the most enjoyable games I have ever been a part of,” Wihnan enthused.
“It (this year) stands out for me because even though the older people that were here before are gone, we have new people that are coming in and understanding what the games are all about.
“It’s about friendship, being together, and just enjoying the day, and that’s what we’ve done here every day.”
While Fort Frances was well-represented with 65 participants, competitors from Stratton, Kenora and Dryden made the trek to take part in the event, putting the competitor total at 101.
“I think it’s great,” Dumeney said.
“I’ve taken part in this event three times here, and this has been one of the biggest crowds I’ve seen yet,” Dumeney added.
Next year’s Senior Games will be taking place in Dryden, which will also include the opportunity for the winners to take part in the Actifest competition in Brampton during that summer.
