These seniors are game!
Winterfest 2003 brings out the best in senior sports enthusiasts
Northumberland seniors proved competitive at Winterfest 2003 in London this week.
“We had four people in alpine skiing,” said Phil Calnan, one of the skiers that went with the Victoria/Peterborough/Northumberland team to Winterfest.
“Two of them won bronze medals. Lloyd Margles won it for the men, and Liz Sine won it for the women.”
In mixed-doubles badminton, Marilyn McMillan and John Geale won bronze for the Victoria/Peterborough/Northumberland team.
Calnan said that competition at the games was fierce.
“They were worked hard,” he said. “There were 25 games of badminton for the couple that won the bronze medal. Mr. and Mrs. Warren Harvey, in the curling tournament, said they worked for two days solid and finished only ten minutes before the dinner where the results would be announced.”
Unfortunately the Warrens, who were seen as curling favourites among their teammates, weren’t among the medal winners.
“There was some tough competition,” said Calnan. “We came in within a fraction of a second of winning bronze in skating. The volleyball players had seven good games, and they came within inches of getting bronze.”
As competitive as it was, Calnan said that more than anything, Winterfest 2003 was great fun.
“We went up there with 35 people,” he said. “They didn’t really know each other, but they had a great time and it made for a lot of new friendships. A lot of people suffer the blues in February, but if you’re out there skiing or skating or doing any of these activities, you don’t have time to get depressed.”
Other events at Winterfest 2003 with the Victoria/Peterborough/Northumberland team competed in included 5-pin and 10-pin bowling, Nordic skiing and basketball.
“We did not have a team in ice hockey,” said Calnan. “I couldn’t get a local team of seniors, even though there are many who play hockey. Most of them told me they had their year slotted very much ahead of time.”
Winterfest 2005 still hasn’t found a host city, but Calnan hopes a Victoria/Peterborough/Northumberland team can be assembled by then.
“The competition there in hockey was absolutely marvelous,” he said. I was amazed at the quality.”