On May 14th, the walls of Lexington Park Retirement Community resounded with cheers, groans, high fives, and lots of laughter as residents of six Topeka retirement homes gathered for an afternoon of competition and fun. Proving that the will to compete has no age limit, around fifty participants bowled the afternoon away on the Wii Bowling game which has become a hit with people of all ages. This is nowhere more prevalent than in Topeka, where its retirement communities are quickly becoming a hotbed for this competition.

Joining the host team, the “Lexy Cats”, of Lexington Park, were teams from Lexington Park Assisted Living, Atria Hearthstone, Brewster Place, McCrite Plaza, and Rolling Hills. Each team brought their own cheering sections ranging from the ages of three to ninety years old. Cheers, some good natured ribbing, and smiles were the order of the day as the tournment progressed. Advancing from the first round was Brewster with a combined average of 145, followed by Lexington Park at 120, Atria with 116, and McCrite at 112.  Brewster and Atria moved on to the final round, with Brewster edging out a narrow two pin victory over a balanced Atria Hearthstone team. The impressive Brewster squad was led by Millie Glover, who rolled a 218 and Woody Bulkley who rolled the high score of the day, an impressive 235.

The afternoon was a part of the National Nursing Home Week festivities, with the entry fee being food items collected at each facility. As impressive as the competition was, even more so was the desire for the participants to help out people of the community who are in need. Well over 500 food items filled the entry way, before being distributed to local food banks at Papan’s Landing, LULAC, and East Topeka Senior Centers. The organizers of the event, including Rhonda Botsford and Peggy Klausman of Lexington Park, as well as staff of the other facilities, were pleased with this response of generosity. Helping in the food drive were community partners which matched the items of food raised. The event sponsors were, Comfort Keepers, Caregivers Home Health, and the Dillons Food Stores.

The afternoon was a hit in many ways. Some of the participants brought along their grandchildren, children, and other family members to watch. The entire afternoon was filled with people smiling, cheering, laughing, and visiting. With the success of this first ever Topeka Senior Wii Bowling Tournament, it is apparent that there will be other such events in the near future.