ALBERTA 55 PLUS SENIORS SHINE AT LEDUC GAMES
Alberta 55 Plus is a non-profit society that provides opportunity for individuals over 55 years of age to continue their interests and participate in over 30 different sports, games and cultural activities. There are eight zones in the province and we are part of Zone 2, which goes from Banff to the Saskatchewan border, and from Olds to Cayley, excluding the City of Calgary, which is Zone 3.
Over one hundred and forty people represented Zone 2 at the recent Senior Provincial Games in Leduc, which included twenty from Foothills County and thirty-seven from Rockyview. From the Foothills area in Cycling, Maggie Nichol-Bowen captured two Gold medals, and in Pickleball Carolyn Mulholland won Bronze and Rhonda Bews got a Silver and a Bronze. Tony Goutbeck, Pat Breen and Gerri Tullikopf-McKay also won Bronze medals in Pickleball. In Golf Nancy Neufeld and Sylvia Bozzo both won Gold and Vic McClelland got Bronze. In Track and Field Norma Dawson got three Gold and a Silver, Gordon Crowell won two Gold, James Vangilst four Gold and Ernie Robson two Silver and a Bronze. In Slo-Pitch we only had one zone 2 team and Warren Tiede won Bronze on that team. We had several players from our area on the Zone 3, Calgary Slo-Pitch teams; Gold medals were won by Gary Paukert, Curtis Buck, and Randy Irwin, and Jack Bews’ team won Bronze. Rounding out the team in Floor Curling we had Marjorie Black, Marion Doell, Pat Shaul and Marion Patrick; in Golf Jean Whyte; and in Pickleball, Serena Goutbeck and Carol Breen.
From Rockyview County, of the 37 athletes competing, 4 from Bragg Creek: Lee and Linda Edwards – 4th in Duplicate Bridge, Colin Gilbert – Gold in Men’s Pickleball; and Clint Docken – 2 Golds in Recreational Cycling. From Bearspaw, Ralph Hindle, Bearspaw, won 2 Golds in Competitive Cycling; Lynda Gross, 2 Silver and a Bronze in Track, and Brian Hill, Springbank, 3 Gold and 1 Silver. Cochrane medalists included Blossom Braganza, a Silver and Bronze in Darts; Doug Campbell, Silver in Floor Shuffleboard, Kim Dumanowski, Silver, and Chris Logan, Bronze, in Golf; in Pickleball, Vladi Hudec, Kim Pearson, Doug Gillman, Steve Katulka, Gary Hawkes, & Greg Braganza all medaled. Our Zone 70+ Mens Slopitch team earned Bronze for Pat Drinnan, Dan Muhlbach, and Reg MacDonald. Swimmer Joan Gunn-Allard continued her dominance in the pool with 4 Golds. Lyndon Emro won 2 Gold and 1 Silver in Track.
In Culture, Linda Edwards earned a Silver in acrylic painting, Myrna Fink a Gold and 2 Silver in Photography, and Tracy Hindle a Gold in Woodworking and a Bronze in Photography.
In total there were over 1100 participants from all over the province. Normally, provincial games lead to Canada Games, but unfortunately there are no Canada 55 Plus games in 2026. Next year we will focus on Fun Games throughout the zone and will open them to non-members. Fort MacMurray will be hosting the Alberta 55 Plus Provincial Games in August, 2027, and Grande Prairie will be home to the Winter Games in 2027/28, leading to Canada 55 Plus Games in 2028. We work closely with local senior and recreation centres to make people aware of what Alberta 55 Plus has to offer. For further information
Alberta 55Plus,
www.alberta55plus.ca, & Cochrane Seniors on the Bow – Sports Coordinator; e. dec@cabsi.ca / c. 403-932- 6866
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