Throughout the month of September, there have been numerous athletic competitions in the Jamestown area and beyond. Area residents have gathered to enjoy some nationally broadcasted NFL Sunday action. Others competed in the recent Battle of the Businesses and at various high school and collegiate competitions in the area.
A multi-week battle between four teams of Olympians has been overshadowed by these events. No, it wasn't some sort of preliminary try out for the 2012 summer games, it was the annual Senior Olympics, and it all happened right here in southwestern New York.
For the past seven years, residents of Emeritus Assisted Living, Frewsburg Rest Home, LSS Hultquist and LSS Skilled Nursing have gathered to compete in a plethora of competitions, including shuffleboard, ring toss, hoop throw, table top bowling, putt (golf), Wii Bowling, wheelchair races, a ''Minute to Win It'' relay and a spelling bee.
Each team invests in special shirts for their Olympians and according to one of the event's planners, the residents look forward to competing each year.
''It started seven years ago. At that time, Tanglewood was a part of it,'' said Theresa Perrin, life enrichment director at Emeritus. ''The activity directors decided to get together and have a friendly competition. (The seniors) had a ball.''
The initial success of the Senior Olympics led Perrin and her fellow organizers to continue organizing the event each year.
''We activity directors get together and plan this together. We decide when we're going to have it,'' she said. ''We decide who is going to have which activities. Usually, it's pretty much the same thing every year.''
The consistency of events from one year to the next gets the competitive juices of the residents flowing.
''I think it's important because the residents are very competitive. Sometimes they come and they see the same people they compete with year in and year out,'' Perrin said. ''They get to know them. They're like, 'We're going to win this.' It's just good, friendly competition. The next year, they come and they say, 'You're not going to win that spelling bee this year.'''
That competitive nature came front and center when Emeritus failed to win the spelling bee on Sept. 9. ''When we went down this year and took second, that was a big thing,'' Perrin said.
This year's events began on Sept. 1. ''We always start off with an opening ceremony, which takes place at Frewsburg,'' Perrin said. ''Now we have a cookout. Frewsburg provides the food and Emeritus brings the dessert, and then we have a couple of competitions. Then we go to the next facility.''
From there, the competition heated up. On Sept. 9, the spelling bee took place at Emeritus, while LSS hosted bowling, Wii bowling and golf on Sept. 12.
As with each Senior Olympics competition, the Sept. 19 wheelchair race at LSS began with the ''Pledge of Allegiance.'' Retirees then cheered on their fellow teammates as they drag-raced along the carpeted floor of the LSS chapel. The ''Minute to Win It'' relay followed.
The 2011 Senior Olympics concluded on Saturday at LSS with a closing ceremony, awards and lunch.
The Olympians will now have 11 months to strategize, trash talk and prepare themselves for next September's events.
