Since August 1980, the Alberta 55 games have been taking place with the first ever games for seniors taking place in Camrose, Alberta. There were 638 participants and the games have continued every two years since.
Alberta has been a pioneer in sport, recreation & fitness development for seniors. In 1976, Seniors Games program called 60+ OL’LYMPYX for Calgary seniors (precursor to Alberta Senior Games). 1979 and 1980, the 60+ age group included in Alberta Summer & Winter Games (Senior’s presence established on the Alberta Games scene). In January 1980, the Alberta Senior Citizens Sport And Recreation Association (ASCSRA) was formed.
The weekend of July 16th – 19th, 2015 brought over 1200 individuals to Strathmore for the 2015 Alberta 55 Plus Strathmore Summer games. With more than two years of planning by the Strathmore Summer Games Committee, buses arrived from the far north, south, east and west to deliver participants to Strathmore. Close to a hundred cars and RVs with more participants converged on the Strathmore Ag grounds and surrounding area which housed the venues for the 15 sports and cultural activities, ranging from slo-pitch to pickle ball to athletics and cribbage.
On Sunday the games wrapped up with the Right Honorable Lieutenant Governor Lois Mitchell presenting the overall awards and closing comments. With a total of 126 medals, Zone 3, Calgary, won The Alberta 55 plus Championship Trophy awarded to the Zone team achieving the most points for the activity/sport competitions in the games.
Zone 2, spanning the province from Banff to Oyen and Olds to High River including Chestermere, were double winners, winning the Lieutenant Governor’s Cup, awarded to the Zone team that has shown the most improvement from the previous Summer Games as well as the Spirit of Participation Trophy given to the Zone team that exemplifies the true spirit of participation with personal integrity and sportsmanship, in and out of competition.
Zone 2 participants won 81 medals, with the Zone finishing in 5th place. Chestermere residents contributed to the medal count with Rosie Armes winning a Gold medal in 55+ Open Singles Horseshoes. Elaine Foulon and Rande Mergerenn won a Bronze medal in 55+ Mixed Doubles in Pickleball, a new sport in the Games and highly competitive. Slo-Pitch had a strong showing with Ray Fair winning a Silver medal in 65+ Men’s ‘A’ Division and Rick Hazelton, Dave Mayer, Bruce Pennock and Brian Wagner bringing home the Gold medal in 55+ Men’s ‘A’ Division. Other participants from Chestermere included Brian Wood in Cribbage, Dianne Pearce in Horseshoes, Marilyn Conrad in Military Whist and Sharon Costello and Charlie Fremont in Pickleball.
More than 800 volunteers from the Town of Strathmore and surrounding area made the games a tremendous event with young and old all pitching in to meet the needs of all participants from plentiful food, amazing billets, people movers from site to site and rickshaw rides. Concerts were held on Friday and Saturday evenings, including a one man play, a string quartet, barn dance and Drew Gregory.
The Mission of the Alberta 55 Plus Association is to encourage individuals to remain active, physically and socially, seeking greater levels of physical, social, intellectual and creative achievement through friendly participation and competition while enhancing a sense of community spirit by bringing Albertans together.
If you’d like to participate in these games, or become a member of the Alberta 55 Plus group or volunteer, please visit www.2015strathmoregames.ca
