On July 7th All Seniors Care Living Centres residents, staff, management and our mascot turtle, CARING, opened our very special Pan Am Inspired Games. These events have been created to encourage being both a participant or a spectator in a variety of friendly competitions to help us prepare to cheer on our Canadian athletes when the Pan AM Games begin on July 10th.
We kicked things off on yesterday with former Pan Am athletes, coaches and medalists from across the country will be visiting our residences to bring words of encouragement and talk about what the Pan Am experience meant to them. Here are a few examples of reactions to this fun event across the country:
Alberta
Lewis Estates – We love letting their competitive side out! What a fun day we had. We started our day with laughter, Yoga and a history of the pan am games.
Laurel Heights – Harvey and Evan (with an apple on his head), volunteered to be live targets for the Archery athletes.
Saskatchewan
Preston Park I – We had a blast at the Opening Ceremony this morning. Our very own Betty B. shared a poem she wrote about the importance of fitness and laughter!
Preston Park II – Check out the group photo of the competitors after the competition! We had a great turn out and so much fun!
Manitoba
Sturgeon Creek I & II – Tenants loved words of inspiration from Susanne Dandenault, Pan Am Athlete in Weight Lifting from the 99 Pan Am Games. At the tournament, cheerleaders outnumbered players!!!!
Shaftesbury Park – What a full, fun filled day, we started out with our opening ceremony at 11:00am this morning where approximately 35-40 people helped deliver our program and officially open the games. Everyone was excited for participation to begin.
Seine River – We had the quote of the day when Mr. W. exclaimed “I’m glad you convinced me to play, you made what is usually an oh so boring game, so much fun!!”
Victoria Landing – Our Guest Speaker was former University and Pan Am Men’s Basketball Coach – Jerry Hemmings. Coach Hemmings delivered a very humorous message about the importance of “sport for life” no matter what age a person is.
Ottawa/ Gatineau
Chateau Symmes – We had an amazing kick off to our Pan Am inspired games with 28 athletes participating in our bocce tournament and many, many more spectators
La Gappe Phase 1 – The photos of our first day of our Pan Am Inspired Seniors Games will hopefully give a glimpse of how much fun we truly had.
La Gappe Phase 3 & 4 – Our opening ceremony and the game of Wii-Bowling that followed was a great success…three women won the game!!!!
Ottawa
Beacon Heights – We were blessed with our special guest Sharon Donnelly, gold medal winner for Triathlon in the 1999 games in Winnipeg. She brought her 2 kids with her today, the eldest entertained everyone with her violin in the dining room.