By Rick Banas, Vice President of Strategic Marketing for BMA Management, Ltd.
If you think video games are just for kids, think again.
Earlier this week, I was in our State Capital as the Affordable Assisted Living Coalition (AALConline.org) hosted the finals of the first ever Supportive Living Wii Bowling Tournament.
The Final Four event was part of the celebration of Supportive Living Week 2010. Supportive Living provides a wonderful alternative to a nursing home or to struggling alone at home for older adults who may need some help to maintain their independence but do not require skilled nursing care. One of the best features of Supportive Living is that the program benefits older adults of all incomes, including those who do not have the financial resources to afford assisted living.
We were honored that three of the four teams of residents that qualified for the Final Four were from communities managed by BMA. They represented the best of the 37 teams from Supportive Living communities throughout the state that competed against each other during a seven-week regular season and a two-week playoff.
Decked out in bowling shirts, the teams gathered at the Abraham Lincoln Hotel for the semi-finals on Monday afternoon and the finals on Tuesday morning. There to officiate was John Cox, of the National Senior League, which organizes national senior Wii bowling tournaments.
The performances of each of the teams and their stories were truly amazing.
The average score for the 64 games bowled during the Semi-Finals and the Finals was 194. More remarkably, the two bowlers with the highest scores are both in their early 90s and one is legally blind.
Cambridge House Silver Sliders
As the headline in the Belleville New Democrat so aptly proclaimed: “Wii Are the Champions.” The Silver Sliders from Cambridge House of Maryville in Maryville, IL, proudly hoisted the first place trophy.
Team members are certainly fast learners as they didn’t start using Wii until this past February after the tournament was announced. The team, which is comprised of Alla Boyer, Chris Garden, Mary Melton and Herman Weihl, had to quickly learn the game from scratch.
Weihl, who was the only man in the Final Four, never bowled a game, real or virtual, prior to joining the team. He says that his only previous bowling experience was as a pinsetter, getting paid 10 cents a game, back in 1952.
Garden says her great granddaughter helped to teach her the game.
Eagle Ridge Eagles
Eagle Ridge of Decatur had two teams of Wii bowlers qualify for the Final Four.
- The Eagle Ridge Eagles #2 brought home the 2nd Place Trophy, thanks to team members Pat Brown, Ernie Henkel, Alice Jacoby and Mary Stuber.
- The Eagle Ridge Eagles #1 took home the 4th Place award, thanks to team members Jeanne Creek, Martha Idle, Margaret Mowry and Barbara Warren.
- Ernie Henkel, who is legally blind, was recognized as the Outstanding Individual Bowler in the Final Four competition. In the second game of the semi-finals, she bowled a 256, with eight-strikes in a row. In the second game of the finals, she bowled a 244. Ernie immigrated to the United States from Austria with her husband when she was 36 years old. She was on the verge of being sent to a concentration camp because of her “crime” of commenting to her landlord that she hoped the Allies would win so that they would no longer have to endure the horrors of the war.
Glenhaven Gardeners
Winning the Third Place Trophy was the team from Glenhaven Gardens of Alton. All of Gardeners sported nicknames – Peggy “Uptown” Brown; Anna Marie “The Godmother” Jenkins; Carol “Shorty” Kuhlman; Edna “The Enforcer” Mobley; and Millie “The Hurricane” Prange. “The Hurricane” was recognized for bowling the highest game in the two days of competition. She rolled a 257 in her second game on Tuesday morning.
Wii’re So Excited
While the opportunity to learn Wii bowling was not viewed as “love at first sight” by many of bowlers, they are now hooked.
Seniors tends not to take change too well, says Arthur Hinton, Resident Services Coordinator at Eagle Ridge of Decatur, which is why he wasn’t surprised when residents were reluctant to give Wii bowling a try. It took a lot of persistence. “I believe there were a few who tried it just to get me to leave them alone.”
Now they love the game, with members of the Eagle Ridge Eagles routinely getting together four days a week to practice for two hours at a time.
Ann Jacoby, a member of the team from Eagle Ridge that finished in second place, boasted that she was up early to practice in her apartment before the bus left to transport the teams from Decatur to Springfield for the event. Her son had given her the Wii game for Mother’s Day last May.
“It is an honor to be here,” Ann said. “I can’t think of anything more exciting than this.”
All affordable assisted living communities managed by BMA Management, Ltd. are certified and surveyed by the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services. All assisted living communities are licensed and surveyed by the Illinois Department of Public Health.
“BMA Management, Ltd. is the leading provider of assisted living in Illinois
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