Senior Brain Games prove challenging
?For 16 rounds, the two went back and forth.
Elsie Ahlgren, 73, of Springhill Township, and Carol Myers, 92, of Uniontown, became the final two in a field of 13 contestants in the recent Fayette County Spelling Bee, held at the Masontown Senior Center during Brain Games 2011.
Enunciator Evelyn Hovanec, a retired professor from Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus, started the competition with simple words like gnash, abnormal, quench and citizen before progressing to words like visibility, preferable, indomitable and prejudice.
Eleven contestants were eliminated in the first 10 rounds. But the final two held on for another 16 rounds as they either both spelled words correctly or both missed the same word. These rounds contained words such as millennium, concomitant and cinematographer.
Ahlgren finally won the competition by correctly spelling the word anthropology.
“It was a shock to me because I didn’t study,” said Ahlgren, who is volunteer site coordinator of the Point Marion Senior Center with her husband, Robert.
Myers, who belongs to the Uniontown Adult Recreation Center, has participated in the spelling bee for many years, winning a couple of years ago in Uniontown, she noted, as well as a contest at the Fayette County Fair.
“I went to a Catholic school and we were taught spelling,” Myers said. “We had to memorize words and I still remember them.”
Both women are receiving trophies.
Other participants in the spelling bee included Gene Knox, Irene Herilla, Doris Wagner, Rose Verna, Nina Gratson, Mary Lou Mancini, Jean Serafini, Clara Delayney, Pat Tannehill, Janet Hiltabidel and Louis Ridgley.
Nikki Dantzler, a staff attorney for Area Agency on Aging, and Cindy Ekas-Brown, who is public relations/outreach specialist for Fayette County Community Action Agency Inc., served as judges.
According to information supplied by Community Action, the spelling bee began more than two decades ago at the Uniontown Senior Center, now known as the Uniontown Adult Recreation Center and operated by Community Action. Joyce Miller, Community Action’s director of community service, and the late Faye Augustine, started the spelling bee in 1990. Augustine added the Brain Games in 1997. Two years ago, the event was opened so it could be hosted by any senior center in Fayette County.
Gwendolyn Ridgley, Fayette County supervisor of Southwestern Pennsylvania Area Agency on Aging, took over as coordinator of the event last year.
Ridgley said the purpose is to “highlight mental acuity and cognitive function and to connect with everyday events.”
All of Fayette County’s senior centers are eligible to participate in the Brain Games and many sent members to participate in Thursday’s event.
They were divided into teams for the Brain Games segment, including Smithfield Colonials No 1, Smithfield Colonials No. 2, Connellsville Wizards, Connellsville Brainiacs, Masontown Cardinals, Uniontown Eagles, Republic Brainiacs, Republic Intellects and the Brownfield Brownies.
Ridgley called everyone to order for that segment, in which the teams were given pages of puzzles and riddles to complete. A team captain made certain to turn in the paper for each round and the points were totaled to select winner.
This year’s games had five rounds, with categories that included mathematics, determining which foods had more calories, and matching companies to their famous advertising slogans. Ridgley ended each five-minute round with “Five, four, three, two, one and you’re done.”
Mary Lou Mancini of the Connellsville center said, “This is my first year and I really enjoyed it.”
Vivian Schipani, also of the Connellsville center, noted, “I go every year.”
Betty Durso of New Salem, who belongs to the Uniontown center, commented, “It’s a challenge and I enjoy being with the other seniors.”
Gerry Rechichar of Filbert Heights, who belongs to the Republic center, also noted of the games, “It was fun.”
Her husband, Cy, remarked, “They made you think.”
Joyce Drake of Hiller, who was part of the Brownfield team, said, “It’s just a great gathering for seniors to come together and share their knowledge.”
“For them, it’s an enjoyable afternoon,” said Kristen Dunham, chief executive of Albert Gallatin Human Serivces, which operates the Masontown Senior Center and its satelites in Point Marion and Smithfield. “Their knowledge is amazing. Their competitive spirit is fun to see.”
Ridgley called out the results of the Brain Games: “Third place goes to Republic Brainiacs; second place to the Connellsville Wizards, and first place went to the Brownfield Brownies. C’mon up here, Brownfield!”
The Brownfield Brownies included Joyce Drake, Jim Miedel, Loretta Newell, Gene Knox, Emmajane Davis, Arnold Davis and team captain Linda Cottom.
“We worked on the whole way up, asking questions,” said Emmajane Davis.
Cottom said of the win, “We’re just estatic. We enjoy being here. The competition doesn’t make any difference — it’s just a fun day.”