If you are into gold, silver, or bronze, a person might do well if they were to cozy up to someone who attended the recent Alberta 55-Plus Winter Games in Cold Lake earlier this month as part of Zone 5 Black Gold/Yellowhead contingent.
That is because the zone came back with 32 medals, 10 gold, 14 silver and eight bronze.
Three of those medals are from Barrhead-area athletes: gold in the 55-plus mixed plus bowling (Sharon and Fred Setterington, Wayne Noulett and Isabel Gibson), silver in 70-plus mixed bowling (Bob and Doreen Battenfelder and Gale and Marjorie Thompson) and a silver in the 70-plus snooker competition for Cliff Oshberg.
The Alberta 55 Plus Games are spearheaded by Alberta Sport Connection which is a non-profit Crown corporation funded by the Alberta Lottery Fund. Its purpose is to enhance the quality of Albertans’ lives, who are 55 and over, by encouraging active lifestyles, promoting athletic excellence and multi-sport games and fun community initiatives. The first summer games were held every two years, starting in Camrose in 1980. In 2005, winter games were added.
Sports and activities vary according to the season and the host city. In Cold Lake, the activities ranged from athletic endeavours from alpine and cross-country skiing, curling, hockey to games such as euchre, cribbage and scramble.
Fort Assiniboine resident Bessie Stevens, a veteran of multiple 55-plus games summer and winter including the one in Cold Lake in bowling, said the games have always been well supported by zone athletes.
“[In Cold Lake] about 900 people attended the games 158 were from Blackgold, the most of any zone,” she said.
Stevens said the highlight is always the opening ceremonies and banquet, noting Cold Lake did an exceptional job.
“They were just beautiful and it was just so great to see everyone in gold and black [Zone 5 colours] and to know we are all part of one big team, it is something,” she said.
For those who were fortunate to win medals at the games, they are eligible to compete in the 2020 Canada 55-Plus games in Kamloops, B.C. in August.
Stevens added anyone wanting to attend the Alberta-55 Plus Summer Games in Medicine Hat in July needs to start thinking what sport and activity they want to compete in and start looking at the qualification criteria.
For most activities, participants must compete in qualifying events to earn the right to represent the zone.
“We have to have our playoff events completed by May 23,” she said, noting some of the qualifying events have already taken place.
Stevens said she is organizing the qualifying event for cribbage in early April in Barrhead.
For more information about how to qualify to represent Zone 5 in the Alberta-55 Plus Summer Games, contact Stevens at 780-584-2536 or Zone 5 activity director Joyce Goeizat at 780-339-2412.
