TRURO - Edna Simmonds may forget a suitcase now and then, perhaps, when she and hubby Eric head out in their camper. But you can always count on one thing – they "never go away without the bridge cards."
"I just like playing bridge and I just like the competition," Edna said of one of the Truro couple's favourite pastimes.
"We have a ball. We meet so many people."
The couple, who are soon coming up on their 50th anniversary, have played countless hands of cards, including bridge, during their many years together. On Saturday, they will point their camper down the road towards Brockville, Ont., where they will compete in the bridge portion of the 2010 Canada 55+ Games.
Whether they win a medal or not is to be determined. What they can always count on, the couple says, is having a good time.
"It's really worthwhile," Edna says. "You have a lot of laughs."
The seniors Games are held every two years in a different part of Canada for people 55 and older. The Simmonds competed at bridge in the 2008 Games in Dieppe, N.B. ,and before that, in 2006 at Portage la Prairie, Man., where they were the only Nova Scotians involved.
And while they have in the past played different variations of the game, including the more serious duplicate bridge (no talking allowed during play) the Simmonds are content this time around to participate in contract bridge, which they say is a more social game.
"We call it party bridge," Eric chuckles.
"Another thing you do there is you gather pins," he adds, of the collection of lapel pins they have both accumulated and which they plan to add to this time around.
Following the Games, the Simmonds plan to spend some time visiting Edna's sister, who lives nearby the host city, and from there they will continue west for an extended retirement vacation.
"Just follow the boss," Eric chuckles again, as he describes their itinerary. "We kind of made a trip out of it now."
About the Games:
The Canada 55+ Games is a nation-wide program to sponsor wellness - (spiritual, mental and physical well being) - among Canadians 55 years of age and older.
– Provincial programs are staged annually in different provinces and territories.
– The first national Games were held in Regina in 1996.
– The Games should not be categorized as sporting events, as they span a wide range of physical and mental challenges, from slow-pitch softball to contract bridge, from darts to lawn bowling, and from snooker to track and field;
– This year's Games run from Aug. 23 to 28 in Brockville, Ont.
- 1996- Regina, Saskatchewan - 350 participants;
- 1998 -Medicine Hat. Alberta. - 750 participants;
- 2002 - Summerside, P.E.I. - 600 participants;
-2004 - Whitehorse, Yukon - almost 1,300 participants and guests;
- 2006 - Portage la Prairie, M.B. - 1,400 athletes and guests;
- 2008 Dieppe, N.B. - more than 1,600 participants and guests.
