Inaugural Bugbee Games encourage active participation outside the senior center

Bugbee Senior Center Administrator Alek Struver, right, pitches to Martha Dupuis, 72, of Wilder, left, during the Bugbee Summer Games home run derby at Maxfield Sports Complex in Hartford, Vt., on Friday, Aug. 16, 2024. It is the week-long event's inaugural year with 14 planned events and 65 participants from roughly 20 towns. (Valley News - James M. Patterson) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com.

Bugbee Senior Center Administrator Alek Struver, right, pitches to Martha Dupuis, 72, of Wilder, left, during the Bugbee Summer Games home run derby at Maxfield Sports Complex in Hartford, Vt., on Friday, Aug. 16, 2024. It is the week-long event's inaugural year with 14 planned events and 65 participants from roughly 20 towns. (Valley News - James M. Patterson) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com. Valley News photographs — James M. Pattersond

Volunteer Heidi Haehnel, of Hartford Village, sports a Bugbee Games flag in her hair while monitoring the knotted string challenge during the 500 meter challenge walk event at Maxfield Sports Complex in Hartford, Vt., on Friday, Aug. 16, 2024. (Valley News - James M. Patterson) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com.

Volunteer Heidi Haehnel, of Hartford Village, sports a Bugbee Games flag in her hair while monitoring the knotted string challenge during the 500 meter challenge walk event at Maxfield Sports Complex in Hartford, Vt., on Friday, Aug. 16, 2024. (Valley News - James M. Patterson) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com.

Participants untie a knotted string on the first challenge stop in the 500 meter walk event during the Bugbee Summer Games at Maxfield Sports Complex in Hartford, Vt., on Friday, Aug. 16, 2024. Challenges included a calisthenics exercise, a word scramble, water balloon transfer and a portion of the course during which racers balanced a summer squash on a spoon. (Valley News - James M. Patterson) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com.

Participants untie a knotted string on the first challenge stop in the 500 meter walk event during the Bugbee Summer Games at Maxfield Sports Complex in Hartford, Vt., on Friday, Aug. 16, 2024. Challenges included a calisthenics exercise, a word scramble, water balloon transfer and a portion of the course during which racers balanced a summer squash on a spoon. (Valley News - James M. Patterson) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com. Valley News — James M. Pattersond

Bugbee Senior Center board member and personal trainer Ann Greenwald, right, motions Kathy Tracy, 67, of White River Junction, left, on to the next station during the 500 meter race during the Bugbee Summer Games at Maxfield Sports Complex in Hartford, Vt., on Friday, Aug. 16, 2024.

Bugbee Senior Center board member and personal trainer Ann Greenwald, right, motions Kathy Tracy, 67, of White River Junction, left, on to the next station during the 500 meter race during the Bugbee Summer Games at Maxfield Sports Complex in Hartford, Vt., on Friday, Aug. 16, 2024. "My husband calls me a junior senior," said Tracy. (Valley News - James M. Patterson) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com. James M. Pattersond

Mark Greenan, 72, of White River Junction, keeps his eye on the ball during the Bugbee Summer Games home run derby at Maxfield Sports Complex in White River Junction, Vt., on Friday, Aug. 16, 2024. Greenan won the event with 45 points.

Mark Greenan, 72, of White River Junction, keeps his eye on the ball during the Bugbee Summer Games home run derby at Maxfield Sports Complex in White River Junction, Vt., on Friday, Aug. 16, 2024. Greenan won the event with 45 points. "I was trying to get my age, but that was a ways off," he said. (Valley News - James M. Patterson) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com. James M. Pattersond

Kathy Tracy, 67, left, and Darsie Riccio, 77, right, both of White River Junction, work their way out of the ribbon of the gold medal they shared after tying in the 500 meter race during the Bugbee Summer Games at Maxfield Sports Complex in Hartford, Vt., on Friday, Aug. 16, 2024. Participants during the week-long event are between the ages of 57 and 93. (Valley News - James M. Patterson) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com.

Kathy Tracy, 67, left, and Darsie Riccio, 77, right, both of White River Junction, work their way out of the ribbon of the gold medal they shared after tying in the 500 meter race during the Bugbee Summer Games at Maxfield Sports Complex in Hartford, Vt., on Friday, Aug. 16, 2024. Participants during the week-long event are between the ages of 57 and 93. (Valley News - James M. Patterson) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com. Valley News — James M. Patterson

By LIZ SAUCHELLI

Valley News Staff Writer

Published: 08-23-2024 6:34 PM

WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — Martha Dupuis stepped up to home plate at Maxfield Sports Complex with swagger and some directions for Alec Struver.

“I don’t want the ball next to my stomach,” Dupuis, of Wilder, told Struver, the administrator of the Bugbee Senior Center, who was preparing to pitch a softball to Dupuis as part of the home run competition last Friday morning during the first-ever Bugbee Senior Games.

“I want it out here a ways.”

Struver, 29, complied, but the practice ball he sent Dupuis’ way didn’t connect with her bat.

“That’s not a good shot,” Dupuis, 72, chided him. “It’s not me it’s you. I’m not going to swing for something that’s terrible.”

Those around the pair — including volunteers in the outfield, athletes waiting to bat and onlookers — laughed along.

Many in the group were sporting navy Bugbee Games T-shirts, which were sold for $20 as a fundraiser to support the week-long event that began Thursday, Aug. 15, and concluded Wednesday.

As Dupuis continued her turn, the trash talk continued with those in attendance adding to the quips.

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“No hitting the pitcher,” someone called out as Dupuis tossed a ball back to Struver.

“Why not?” Dupuis replied.

Most of the crowd’s criticism was aimed at Struver, who took it all in stride.

It was, of course, all in good fun. Which was the point of the Bugbee Games — but not the only one.

“We’re also doing it to show folks that just because you’re older doesn’t mean you’re inactive,” said Emily Santaw, 75, who chairs the Bugbee’s board of directors and competed in the 500-meter Walk/Roll/Run. “People are already enthusiastically talking about next year.”

The idea for the Games came from a brainstorming session Bugbee staff had about holding events at locations other than the senior center, which have proven popular.

At first, they decided to hold a lawn games tournament. Then Bugbee Director Mark Bradley attended the National Council on Aging Conference in June where he was inspired by a presentation about the role senior centers can play in combating ageism. When he returned home, he brought up the topic to his co-workers in White River Junction.

“As we kind of brainstormed about that, we said, ‘OK, if we’re going to do lawn games, why don’t we add a home run derby and pickleball?’

“Then it turned into this big thing,” Bradley said in a phone interview the day after the games ended.

It cost roughly $5,000 to host, with the funds coming from the nonprofit organization’s general fund. They briefly thought about holding off a year — it was to be the largest multi-day event Bugbee had ever done — but decided to go for it and chose “Aging Leads to New Aspirations” as a theme. The first week of July, they announced the game line up, eager to see who would be interested.

“We knew it was probably going to be fun,” Bradley said. “I don’t think we had any idea exactly what to expect.” Or just how diverse the group of people who signed up would be.

There were 68 participants from 22 different towns, including one from Maine and another from Burlington, ranging in age from 57 to 93. They filled 105 different competition spots. There were 20 handmade medals awarded.

“Each of them came with their own set of experiences and their own physical abilities, but something about just being together … everyone was so encouraging and friendly and just happy to be together and doing something new,” Bradley said.

What about the trash talk and teasing?

“We definitely saw the competitive side come out of a few people, but I think friendly competition is a good way to make new connections,” Bradley replied.

Those connections were out in full force during the home run derby, which 72-year-old Mark Greenan, of White River Junction, eventually won. (Some attributed his luck to the Red Sox T-shirt he wore.)

‘Aging is adynamic process’

The Twin States have two of the oldest populations in the United States — a fact that has been marshaled to advocate for many initiatives over the years, from better public transportation to affordable senior housing to training employees for continuing care facilities. But sometimes what gets lost in those serious topics is that seniors — or older adults, depending on your preference for language — still very much want to have fun.

“Aging is a dynamic process, and we saw that at the games,” Bradley said.

Bradley, Struver and Bugbee program coordinator Susan Manley, 55, along with around 15 volunteers, made sure that the games included activities that could appeal to people of all mobility levels. On the first day, there was an opening ceremony and parade in downtown White River Junction.

Aug. 16 was field day featuring a 500-meter Walk/Roll/Run and pickleball tournament, in addition to the home run derby.

Monday’s events included a jigsaw puzzle race and competitive knitting.

Shortly before 1 p.m., a group of eight women gathered around tables arranged into a rectangle at Bugbee, ready to begin knitting identical baby hats that would be donated to the NICU at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center.

“The whole idea is to have fun,” volunteer Barb Duclos said before giving the knitters the go-ahead to start.

At first it was silent as knitters grabbed their yarn and started casting it onto their needles. Videographers from nearby Junction Arts & Media (better known as JAM) were on hand to catch the action, as they had been throughout the Games.

“I’m just making sure no one cheats,” Duclos, 74, of White River Junction, said as she walked around the room.

“None of us brought a knitting machine,” Sherri Sanborn, of Wilder, quipped.

Sanborn had spent that weekend knitting five baby hats as preparation.

Duclos predicted that the competition would take around an hour and a half.

As the minutes slipped past, the participants started to talk about who taught them to knit and about passing on those skills to family members and friends. They connected over the size of their yarn stashes and what projects they were working on.

“These folks look pretty competitive and suspicious,” Sydney Smith, of Norwich, joked.

There was talk of whether coffee counted as a performance-enhancing drug to increase knitters’ speed.

Soon, the knitters took notice of Dottie Cummings, of Sharon, who had stayed silent for most of the hour as she focused on the red yarn and needles in her hand. A few minutes before the hour was up, she’d finished her hat.

All cheered as Duclos gave Cummings, 80, her medal.

“I like to knit,” Cummings said after a photograph. “I said, ‘That’s something I can do.’ It’s not physical.”

While some knitters attend Bugbee’s weekly fiber arts group, other competitors were meeting for the first time.

“The idea of competitive knitting sounded silly,” Smith, 70, said. “Why not?”

Smith’s ethos of “why not?” was evident throughout the Games.

Why not try to hit a softball out of the diamond, despite not doing so for years? Why not compete to finish a 300-piece puzzle with others as fast as they could?

And on Wednesday morning, the last day of the Games, it became “why not play lawn games in the rain?”

‘I think everyonecan do something’

Nancy Jarvis accepted a towel from a volunteer as she settled under the bandstand at Lyman Point Park in White River Junction.

Jarvis, of White River Junction, had just won a round of bocce. Sometimes, her arthritis takes a toll on her hands and the rain that day hadn’t exactly helped, she said.

“It was fun,” Jarvis, 72, said. “It was wet. I’m drenched.”

But Jarvis, like those who competed in croquet, lawn darts and other games, was undeterred. A putting game and cornhole were moved under the bandstand when the drizzle turned to a steady rain. People sat at card tables and ate snacks as volunteers warmed up the grill for the closing ceremony barbecue.

Greenan, the home run derby winner, stood under a tent and watched the scene play out.

“What a great job they’ve done,” he said.

Greenan, a Meals on Wheels volunteer for Bugbee, sees first-hand how important creating — and maintaining — connections can be for people as they age. The Games did a good job of incorporating activities for people of different mobility levels, with staff and volunteers making sure those who wanted to participate could.

“I think everyone can do something,” he said.

That was one of the messages Bradley, the Bugbee director, hoped participants, volunteers and community members who stopped by to watch would take from the Games, which seems likely to become an annual event.

“I have a feeling we don’t have a choice about it next year,” Bradley said with a laugh.

There have been suggestions for other events (A free throw contest? Cycling? Whatever the seniors want, he said) and including more senior centers in the area.

“This is where the imagination comes in and it will probably work best to do what we did this time and listen to the seniors tell us what they want to try out,” Bradley said. “I think seniors, at least in the Upper Valley and surely elsewhere, do a lot more than we might assume.”

Liz Sauchelli can be reached at esauchelli@vnews.com or 603-727-3221.