Seniors get out to play during annual games

Seniors at a retirement facility in Brandon are participating in a variety of games this week as part of a nationwide event promoting physical activity and social connection.

Norma Lowe, 91, was one of the first people in line to play cornhole on Wednesday afternoon at Victoria Landing Retirement Residence. In the morning, she played ladder ball, although she didn’t do as well as she would have liked, she said.

“I have a national gold medal from last year, but I haven’t lived up to that this year — but anyway, so be it,” Lowe said.

“I am enjoying seeing other people win medals. I mean, I’ve got a whole bunch of them at home.”

Lowe has lived at Victoria Landing for nearly seven years and has participated in the All Seniors Care (ASC) Seniors Games every year except for when they were cancelled due to the pandemic.

“I look forward to them all because I put my name down for them all,” she said with a laugh.

“It’s a healthy thing to do if you’re able.”

This year is the 17th annual ASC Seniors Games, with the event providing an opportunity for about 4,000 residents across 29 living centres to participate, said ASC national marketing director Bruce Lillie.

Victoria Landing is the only living centre participating in the Brandon senior games. Six retirement homes in Winnipeg are also taking part.

The five-day event kicked off this week with an opening ceremony on Monday that included speeches and reading of letters from Gov. Gen. Mary Simon and Prime Minister Mark Carney, Lillie said.

Residents walked or rolled through the hallways to mark the first physical activity on Monday, and some facilities marked a full kilometre for anyone wanting to go the distance.

Tuesday’s event was a bean bag toss and pétanque, which is a game where players throw hollow steel balls while standing inside a circle, trying to land them closest to a target ball.

“The participants go for gold, silver and bronze, but then those scores are submitted nationally for pétanque and the top scores across the country win medals, and those medals are awarded at our closing ceremony on Friday,” Lillie said.

The scores for the ladder ball event on Wednesday were also submitted nationally.

Residents plan to play bocce and shuffleboard today and Jeopardy and bingo on Friday, followed by the closing ceremony — a “party to end the week,” Lillie said.

Marie Hamilton, 89, was crowned the Chefs de Mission for the games at Victoria Landing. She joined about 20 residents in a semi-circle to cheer on people who were playing cornhole on Wednesday.

All the residents were wearing white complimentary T-shirts and colourful ribbons to display their badges of completion.

“Winning isn’t everything,” Hamilton said, adding the games are about “being able to laugh when you don’t do well and do something stupid or hit the side of the wall instead of the object you’re supposed to be hitting.”

As a new resident at the retirement home, Hamilton said she encourages other recent arrivals to be enthusiastic and participate.

“Socializing is one of the best things for seniors to do, and I think this kind of thing creates socialization, but it also gets the participants participating in games that they want to do,” she said.

Claudia Nohr, the executive director at Victoria Landing, said 18 people played ladder ball on Wednesday with about 12 people cheering from the sidelines with pom poms.

The walk and roll on Monday had 52 participants and was joined by the Brandon University men’s volleyball team, who handed out water to people, she said.

“Residents who have lived here longer, they look forward to it and they’re the ones hyping it up and telling, you know, anybody that’s new how much fun it is,” Nohr said.

She said Victoria Landing has participated in the ASC Senior Games since it began 17 years ago.

Lillie, who’s based at River Edge in Winnipeg, said the games are held in February every year to helps residents stay active during winter months and that it’s “something to look forward to.”

He said each facility has held different activity sessions since September to ensure seniors could practise and strengthen their skills.

“This week is kind of the culmination of months of preparation,” Lillie said.

“It’s a lot of work putting it on, but it is so rewarding to see the participation, the laughter.”

The theme for the senior games in 2026 is “There’s No Place Like Home,” which is inspired by “The Wizard of Oz” and highlights the spirit of friendship and belonging that make the ASC facilities feel like home, he said.

» tadamski@brandonsun.com