Green Hornets buzzing about Geri Olympics Leisureworld Elmira residents enjoy friendly competition   Wednesday June 23, 2010 -- Lisa Bailey Nestled in the Top 3 again at the Geri Olympics, the Green Hornets should soon be sipping black coffee from Tim Hortons with a hearty breakfast. The meal is the likely reward for the team of six residents from Leisureworld Caregiving Centre Elmira, who earned a gift card from the popular java chain for finishing third at this year’s competition. This was the Elmira long-term care home’s second consecutive appearance at the games, which are organized by a regional networking group called Activity Directors On the Move. Though they didn’t improve on last year’s second-place result, the Green Hornets are still buzzing with delight about the June 18 social outing. “It’s a really feel-good event,” programs manager Paula Osborne says. “It boosts their self-esteem, it’s something that’s fun for them, it’s a little friendly competition, and then they get to come home and tell everybody how they did. I think it’s a really positive event.” Held at the centrally located Parkwood Mennonite Home in Waterloo, the Geri Olympics featured teams of six or eight from eight homes in the southern Waterloo region. Inspired by their matching neon-green shirts, the Elmira crew named themselves the Green Hornets and came up with the chant of “We’re gonna get ya” on the way to the games. Osborne, another staff member from the long-term care home and a volunteer accompanied the team, which included four returnees from 2009. Following an opening ceremony, the teams competed in six different events, including a toonie toss, a javelin throw using pool noodles, spelling bee, horseshoe toss, trivia game and hockey shoot. Scores from each event were tallied to determine overall placement. Osborne notes that the spelling bee featured some difficult words, while the toonie toss challenged participants because they had to try to land $2 coins on a foam plate floating in a bucket of water. Of the two new events — the hockey shoot and horseshoe toss — the Green Hornets excelled at the latter. Being from “horse and buggy land” in Elmira, they brought real horseshoes to the event and did very well, Osborne says. While eating their lunch outdoors, the team experienced an added thrill as the Canadian Armed Forces Snowbirds aerobatics team flew overhead in rehearsals for a local air show. Finishing behind the Salvation Army’s AR Goudie Eventide Home in Kitchener and Pine Haven Nursing Home in Waterloo, the Green Hornets brought home ribbons and a certificate in addition to their gift card. Team members were Leo Ditner, Madeline Wheeler, Alice Clark, Alex Strauss, Fred Mulder and Pat Holmes. If you have feedback on this article please contact the newsroom at 800-294-0051, ext. 25, or e-mail lisa(at)axiomnews.ca.