The XXV Winter Games in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, inspired Southgate Village and three other seniors living communities in Essex County to host their own version of the Olympics.
Valerie Judas, Southgate Village’s fun co-ordinator, says the Kingsville seniors living community’s residents “are a very competitive bunch,” so when they received an invitation to join a games competition with Venvi Leamington Retirement Living, Venvi Kingsville Retirement Living and Rosewood Erie Glen Retirement Residence, they happily accepted.
The Southgate team, made up of 11 residents, called themselves the Southgate Storm.
The first event featured a version of Pong, the table-tennis video game popularized in the early 1970s, adapted using buckets and plastic spiky doughnut-shaped balls.
At the end of Round 1, Southgate earned a win against Venvi Leamington.
In Round 2, the Southgate Storm faced the Venvi Kingsville team, who was coming off a win against Rosewood Erie Glen. Venvi Kingsville claimed the Round 2 victory.
Determined to bounce back, the Southgate Storm regrouped for the next game, a mock horse race played with dice. Staff members from each residence played the role of horses on the track.
The “horses” were assigned numbers and residents rolled dice to move them forward. Valerie was assigned No. 2. With only three spaces remaining, several twos were rolled and Southgate secured the win.
Valerie says the Southgate Village team name proved prophetic.
“The team was called the Southgate Storm, and we sure brought the thunder,” she tells S&R Today. “Congrats on a gold-winning performance.”
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