This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Community Corner

Seniors Show Form, 'Metal' at Senior Olympics

A closing ceremony was held Friday after four days of events.

To the melody of the Olympic theme, they paraded to the front of the room, wearing their medals. The winners of 52 medals—gold, silver and bronze—displayed their “metal” Friday at the 2011 senior Olympics closing ceremony.

Olympic events at the included games like bocce and bowling and shuffleboard and card and word games from cribbage to whist. Seniors participated in events Monday through Thursday.

The events are based on activities offered at the center; activities that can be objectively scored, Judy Tanner, center director of programs and volunteers, explained Wednesday, just before three teams faced off on the shuffleboard court outside the center.

Find out what's happening in Woburnwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Some 50 seniors entered one or more events, Tanner said. Recreation Department staff scored the events. Volunteers help register entrants and record event results. One volunteer even looked up bocce rules, Tanner said.

At the shuffleboard court, six seniors picked numbers to form two-person teams and set their order of play. Patrice Higgins and Jenna Fralick from the Recreation Department prepared to score the games. Two seniors sat in the shadow of the building, like spectators or cheerleaders.

Find out what's happening in Woburnwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“I’m not ready to give it up yet,”  said player Vincent Simeone. He’s 90. He took silver medals in shuffleboard and pool.

“You have six years more practice than me,” player Bud Fowle quipped to Simeone.

Barbara Ridley, who took bronze the day before in horseshoe competition with Bud as her partner, said she was participating in the shuffleboard competition Wednesday because “I’m involved here and it’s fun.” She is on the council board, she said.

“More people should come," she urged.

Nancy Matthews, who bowled her way to a bronze medal Tuesday, said she came to the center Wednesday to cheer on the shuffleboard teams. She gave her medal back, she said, so it could be used again next year.

At Friday’s senior Olympic closing ceremony, Tony DeStefano wore six medals he earned, a mix of gold, silver and bronze in bocce, bowling, cribbage, horseshoes, pool and shuffleboard.

At the ceremony, center Director Joanne Collins squelched a rumor that the senior Olympics would be cancelled next year. Not true, she told the audience of medal winners and other seniors who had gathered for the ceremony, ice cream and bingo.

“They’ll go on next year,” she said.

The names of all of the gold, silver and bronze medal winners in all events follow. The events are listed in the order in which they were held.

Monday

Putting

gold – Tony Brosca

silver – Jack Kelly

Scrabble

gold – Margaret Graney

silver – Lucille Ciampa

bronze – Jane Linn

Whist

gold – Joan Sweetser and Pat Litchfield

silver – Tom Mansour and Joe Frango

bronze – Mike Langone, Rose Angelo, Bill Campbell and Rhoda Frango

Tuesday

Horseshoes

gold – Lucille Ciampa and Tony DeStefano

silver – Joan Sweetser and Tom Mansour

bronze – Barbara Ridley and Alfred (“Bud”) Fowle

Pool

gold – John Voner

silver – Vinnie Simeone

bronze – Tony DeStefano

Bowling

men

gold – Peter Huxtable

silver – Richard Tyndall

bronze – Tony DeStefano

women

gold – Cynthia Tyndall

silver – Betty Anderson

bronze – Claire Mantica, Doris Coulter and Nancy Matthews

Wednesday

Shuffleboard

gold – Joan Sweetser and Alfred (“Bud”) Fowle

silver – Barbara Ridley and Vinnie Simeone

bronze – Tony DeStefano and Charles Bevilacqua

Cribbage

gold – Joan Sweetser

silver – Tony DeStefano

bronze – Edward Scholer

Thursday

Golf (played at Woburn Country Club)

gold – John Campbell

silver – Peter Fanara

bronze – Jack Kelly and Joe Donoghue

Hand and Foot card game

gold – Claire Gregory

silver – Jean D’Entremont

bronze – Bill Campbell

Bocce

gold – Lucille Ciampa and Charlie Bevilacqua

silver – Rose Mozzetta and Tony DeStefano

bronze – Jim O’Connor and Geno Giangregorio

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?