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Early Registration Ends on Friday
New Bern, NC – Athletes have until Friday to register for the Neuse River Senior Games (NRSG). The games will be held Tuesday, April 17 through the 26 at various locations throughout Craven County. The performing arts competition, Silver Arts, will begin on April 18 in New Bern.
This year’s games will feature a new event. “We added a fun competition called ‘Cornhole’ and it has actually boosted participant’s interest,” says Billy Wilkes, Assistant Director for Craven County Recreation and Parks Department, “we are always on the lookout for exciting events that will be appealing to our long-term participants and hopefully attract new folks as well.” Cornhole is a lawn game where players throw bean bags at a raised platform with a hole in the far end. A bag in the hole scores three points, and one on the platform scores one point. Other athletic events include bowling, swimming, horseshoes, cycling, track and field, croquet, bocce, shuffleboard, miniature golf, and many others.
The Silver Arts Competition celebrates the arts and includes vocal, comedy, drama, dance and instrumentals categories. Other Silver Arts categories include Heritage Crafts such as basket weaving, quilting, and wood turning, Visual Arts such as drawing, painting, and photography, and Literary Arts such as poetry, short stories, and essays. Silver Arts is a significant part of the Senior Games program. It offers seniors a venue for celebrating their creative talents and inspires people of all ages to consider the life-long benefits of artistic expression.
Early registration is due on Friday, March 9. The cost is $12 and includes a senior games t-shirt and two lunches. For more information or to register, contact Johanne Pryor, NRSG Coordinator, at 252-745-5252 or Billy Wilkes, at Craven County Recreation and Parks, 252-636-6606. For more information on NRSG, including registration forms, visit www.cravencounty.com/parks/seniorgames/seniormain.cfm.
The Neuse River Senior Games encompasses six counties including Craven, Duplin, Greene, Jones, Lenoir, and Pamlico. Qualifiers in the local games may go to the North Carolina Senior Games (NCSG) Finals held every fall in Raleigh. Every other year participants who qualify at the State Games may continue on to the National Senior Games. NCSG information, including sports rules, is available at www.ncseniorgames.org. NRSG is sanctioned by North Carolina Senior Games and is sponsored by the North Carolina Division of Health and Adult Services.
Submitted by: Jillian Hardin, MPA, CIRS-A, Aging Specialist, Eastern Carolina Council Area Agency on Aging, 233 Middle St. New Bern