I have been so busy training for the Summer Schuylkill Senior
Olympics I was unable to post anything.
Training consumed all of my attention.
This year the games will being held in Beury’s Grove in Barry Township,
just northwest of Minersville. It starts in mid-August. Much of my training
occurred in and around Minersville at the various ethnic picnics. I am participating in the Pysanky egg roll completion
for the first time. This requires me to
train for several hours on a stability ball.
Such training works my abdominals, obliques and core, and helps to
improve my overall balance and coordination.
I plan to win the gold. I won gold in the Greco-Roman Rumpsch match at
the last games held in Diener’s Hill. It
will be Pine Grove’s first gold in Pysanky egg rolling. I will make my people
proud. I will not be alone as Mammy Trout will compete for Ravine in the ten
yard dash and the Jumping to conclusions competition. We
both intend to come home with the gold. Gold to us is the ultimate aphrodisiac.
Beury’s Grove is an ideal spot for the Senior Olympics. It
has water first of all. The Buckhorn
Creek, named after a bar in St. Clair, is what I am talking about. In the 1920s
a twelve acre man-made lake was created, setting off a storm of controversy
with local fundamentalists who disapproved of men making lakes. Lake-making should be left to God or at least to men with front-end loaders. They disapproved even more when women made
lakes. In any event the lake was completed and it became a well-known tourist
attraction. It is called Moon Lake named after the Who’s late drummer.
Beury’s Grove gaining the right to host the Olympics was not easy. It took a lot of finagling, believe me. Other contenders included Pottsville, Duncott and McAdoo. McAdoo was rejected due to the high altitude. Duncott was rejected for obvious reasons. Pottsville was aggressive in its pursuit of hosting the games. It did offer a beautiful Olympic size pool and other sports facilities. Barefield Development even promised more housing for the participants and to rebuild the diving tower at the pool which would renamed after any man the Committee selected from the St. Patrick’s Church Directory. In the end Buery’s Grove got the spot basically due to my expertise finagling.
Lake Wynonah also had submitted a bid and it was almost
successful. Apparently the controversy over the Indian maiden statue led to its
rejection. That statue has been called
by some “a mannequin from the old Pomeroy’s
Department Store and not really a statue” and others say she is not Indian
at all but “native American.” Others say she is a poor depiction of a
maiden as a true maiden would never spend all of her nights on a highway populated
by truckers. The Schuylkill Senior
Olympics Committee (SSOC) decided to stay clear of the controversy and Lake
Wynonah ultimately pulled its bid from consideration.
The opening ceremonies will certainly not be as flashy as
the ceremonies at the “other Olympics”
in London where the torch was carried into the stadium by the likes of Sir
Elton John, Sir Ozzie Ozborne Sir Keith Richards and Sir Johnny Rotten. The identities of those who are to carry the
torch in the make-shift stadium at “the Grove” still remains a mystery. The money, however, is on Sir Rocking Horse Charlie.
In any event, the
anticipation is building for this magical event that occurs only once every
four years; bringing together the sour cream of the crop of aging county
athletes who will represent every single municipality in the county, starting
with Altamont and ending with Weishample. Yorkville’s athletes will march under
the flag of Pottsville, of course. This
year, Renninger’s Haven has been recognized as a separate entity and its athletes
have been recruited from the funnel cake and French frie stands inside the
Market to participate. This has caused
North Manheim Township to lodge a protest.
Yes, the senior Olympics
is not complete without its controversies. To the victor belongs the spoils.
