Antigonish 55+ Games a success

Flo Russell and John L. MacDonald warming up for the washer toss event. - Richard MacKenzie

ST. ANDREWS, N.S. - Another edition of the Antigonish 55+ Games took place June 15 and 16, and the winners were … all participants.

“Probably my favourite part of the whole thing was just seeing how happy everyone was,” co-ordinator Kayla Partridge said. “That they came together, seeing the smiles, the laughs … that would be my favourite part.”

The games took place mostly around St. Andrews Community Centre and Consolidated School, but also ventured into Antigonish town to take advantage of businesses such as Dooly’s Billiard Room and Pins Bowling Centre.

Most sports, however, took place outside, and Partridge said organizers were fortunate that Mother Nature smiled down on them with good weather.

“It was so nice outside, we were really lucky,” she said. “By chance, it was raining on Thursday and bad again today (June 18) so, we were lucky to hit on a sunny spot.”

Next summer, the Antigonish area will be hosting the provincial 55+ Games and Partridge said this year’s activities were put on with next year’s larger event in mind.

“As we were planning and executing different activities through this year’s games, we were definitely keeping in mind what we would have to do different for next year,” she said. “

“It’s going to be a lot more people, coming from all over the province. So things will be, kind of, the same, just on a much larger scale.”

Organizers did deal with increased numbers for this year’s games; almost double, Partridge reports.

“We had 97 last year and a 186 this year, registered,” she said, noting the Saturday lunch and dinner events being just as popular and successful as the sporting games.

“There were a lot of different highlights,” she said.

See the original article at http://www.thecasket.ca/sports/antigonish-55-games-a-success-219904/