Seniors' chair volleyball a hit

The sounds of laughter and yelling traveled down the hallway, making visitors wonder what was going on.

During chair volleyball at the Golden Hour Senior Center last Wednesday, volleyball players were laughing and shouting with almost every play.

As the beach ball was hit, seniors moved in their chairs to try and hit the ball. Whenever one would move off of the chair in an attempt to get the ball, they would get called out for it.

When senior Goldie Buckendorf moved out of her seat to get the ball, someone yelled, "Cheeks in the chair Goldie."

After this, everyone in the room started laughing, including Buckendorf, who quickly returned to her seat.

Meanwhile, every time the ball was served, Gail Heikkinen would yell, "Hit it, hit it, hit it."

GHSC Executive Director Jackie Grubb would act as a referee of sorts and toss the ball back into play when the ball would get away from the group. Each side of the net had room for five players, but only four were on each side. While in the chairs, the players would reach as far as they could to hit the ball over the net.

The ball was going everywhere and players were hitting it off of the ground, ceiling and walls.

"Right now we're just focusing on fun," Jackie said.

In the future, the center may host an actual chair volleyball game, but for now they are going to focus on getting used to hitting the ball, Jackie said.

For the past five weeks, the seniors have been participating in the game, which lasts 30 minutes.

Jackie said the idea came from the center's activities and marketing coordinator Irish Kreis who found the game online. Kreis was looking for a game to keep seniors more active. It seems to be working.

As the game progressed, the heckling started as senior Mary Grubb said "Are you guys worn out? You're breathing hard over there."

"I think it's been going great," Jackie said. "People keep coming in to see what's going one because of their laughter (carries) all the way down the hall."

The only complaint the players had was the need for two more people. This way each side would have five players instead of four.

When the time was up, the seniors put everything away while chatting and laughing with each other about the game.