Phoebe Berks has held its yearly Summer Olympic Games event for nearly a decade. This day-long celebration sees residents gathering at the campus’s boardwalk to compete in a variety of games including shuffleboard, cornhole, and bocce ball. Last year’s summer Olympics marked the return of the beloved day since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2025, however, the campus took the competitive festivities up another notch with the introduction of the Phoebe Berks Winter Olympics. This exciting event saw the games spread across an entire week, rather than a single day, allowing more opportunities for residents to compete.
The Winter Olympics featured over 60 residents from across the continuum of care going head-to-head in 34 individual games including frisbee toss, Wii bowling, trivia, pool noodle javelin, and games of chess and checkers. A few of the games from the Summer Olympics also made a return.
Like the Summer Olympic Games, the Winter Olympic Games divided residents into teams, this time by country. The countries represented included Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and the USA.
The week rang in with an opening ceremony on February 24th. Phoebe Berks Executive Director Craig Shelly, who dawned a tuxedo for the occasion, introduced the teams and gave a speech wishing the competitors good luck.
Residents competed in games both familiar and unfamiliar to them. Kay Hassler, a resident of Phoebe Berks, participated in the ping-pong tournament despite it being her first time playing in 70 years. Another resident, Lindsay Haman, competed at 101 years of age!
Family and friends gathered to support their fellow competitors. June Becker cheered on her husband Dave, both of whom live at Phoebe Berks, as he played ping-pong with others. The top three teams or individuals in each game received gold, silver, or bronze medals accordingly.
“It was a lot of fun and everybody that was there was rooting for us,” said resident Marie Elinsky when reflecting on her performance in the spelling bee.
During the closing ceremony on February 28th, the country of Italy was crowned the winner with a total of 9 gold medals and 21 overall. The event was such a success, the campus proclaimed they would do it all again next year.
Shelly reflected on the importance of the event, saying, “I wanted to do something that can engage residents at all levels.” The beginning of the year is often a popular time for seasonal depression no matter one’s age, and events like this help keep our staff and residents happy.
Making the Phoebe Berks Olympics happen is a campus-wide effort between staff and the resident-led Sports and Recreation Task Force. It’s immediately apparent from the energy at these events that the Olympic games are a labor of love and joy. The planning that goes into activities such as these is inspiring.
Phoebe Berks residents are already excited about the upcoming Summer Olympic Games! Follow the Phoebe Berks Facebook page for more updates on the campus’s activities or click here to learn more about the continuum of care we offer.
Written by Dominic Trabosci
