Active Aging Week

College students tend to choose a Wii over a game of chess. Seniors tend to play communal board games and not know anything about videogames.

Yet seniors attending Active Aging Week at Gordon College this week skipped board and card games to play virtual golf, tennis and bowling projected onto a large screen.

Though activities such as "Wii Sports" attracted some participants, the turnout for most activities failed to meet organizers’ expectations. Both game night at Chester’s place and the showing of the movie “Forever Young at Heart” had no attendees, while only two people attended a spiritual walk around gull pond.

“I thought my favorite event was going to be playing chess and board games at Chester’s, but no one came” said Marie Lucey, clinical manager of the Center for Balance, Mobility and Wellness. “I went home really disappointed that no one came. Some of it was timing, publicity. You just never know.”

Despite advertising on local news stations, newsletters and posters, total attendance, expected to reach 200 participants, remained around 50.
Weak attendance, however, failed to keep participants from having a great time at events like virtual bowling.

Between laughs and staring at a Wii remote, 83 year old Roy Carlson remarked that he preferred virtual bowling to the real thing.
"Yeah, I like it. But- well, real bowling- it's a little different. "