The Annual Tri County Senior Olympics occurred on Sept. 18, 2024, at Veterans Park in Randolph. Seniors from towns in three New Jersey counties, including Randolph, Sparta, Pequannock, Morris, West Milford and Wayne, came together for one afternoon of fun.
Approximately a dozen RHS students from Student Government and Tomorrow’s Leaders were hand-selected to attend this event and represent the Randolph school district. “I loved connecting with all the seniors and talking to them and watching them have a fun time,” student volunteer Ethan Reiber said.
Senior residents from each township wore a different-colored T-shirt, including Randolph residents in navy. Groups of four senior residents from each town participated in events, including soccer, basketball, golf, cornhole, chicken toss and ladder golf. The events were preceded by an Olympics-inspired parade where participants from each township created and waved their own spirit flags as they walked across the park accompanied by the iconic Olympics theme song.
After starting the day off with breakfast and an aerobic warm-up including squats and shoulder rolls, the senior participants were ready to take on the day. Each volunteer was put with a group of seniors and led them through the day’s activities. The student volunteers helped the activities run smoothly and kept score for each group. “My favorite activity I participated in was the chicken toss,” volunteer Jaclyn Mars said. “The senior citizens had so much fun playing with the rubber chickens, and the crowd was cheering everyone on as they went.”
After the seniors had finished all the activities, they enjoyed a catered lunch from A&B Bagels. To finish off the day, there was a much-anticipated awards ceremony , with awards going to the winners of each individual event for both the men’s and women’s categories. A spirit award was also given to the member of each town who showed the most sportsmanship. The overall winner of the whole Olympics was the host town, Randolph.
“Something I took away from this experience is that you are never too old to have fun and participate in different things,” volunteer Rebecca Dasti stated. “Another lesson I took out of that afternoon is to go into every new experience with a positive attitude and open mind.”
