Holding a Wii remote in her right hand, 67-year-old Marilyn Totten lunges forward into a bowling stance. She aims her right arm at a television screen as she releases a button on the back of the remote.

She watches excitedly as her pink bowling ball travels down a bowling lane displayed on TV.

"I got it, I got it, I got it -- whoo!" Totten exclaimed, as she bowls a strike. "This is a lot of fun!"

This was the scene on a recent Wednesday at the Hanford Senior Center as a group of seniors played Nintendo's Wii Sports.

Senior Center Coordinator Julie Edwards suggested the Hanford Recreation Department purchase the $250 gaming system. The center bought the system in May and since then Edwards has been organizing tournaments with other local senior citizen centers and nursing facilities.

The Senior Center has a bowling tournament once a month and has in-house bowling competitions on Mondays from 9:45 to 11 a.m. and Wii Golf on Fridays from 9:45 to 11 a.m.

"It's a great social event that brings seniors together," said Edwards. "They have a good time. They're laughing, they're energized and it gives them something to do. It exercises their mind, and those limbs that they thought were pretty stiff."

However, learning how to operate the Wii remote can seem daunting at first to some seniors.

In Wii bowling, players have to hold down the button on the back of the remote until they're ready to release the ball.

"The biggest challenge is the timing -- when to release the trigger," Edwards said. "Once they get the grasp of it, they take off with it. They get confident right quick."

Mel Mendes, 85, and his wife, Gladys, 84, tried Wii bowling for the first time two weeks ago when the Senior Center held a training session and demonstration.

At one time, the couple was on a traveling bowling team with Kings County Bowl. They'd bowl three days a week. But neither had bowled for 40 years before trying the Wii.

Although Mel Mendes usually carries a cane, he doesn't use it when he plays the game. When it's his turn to bowl, he puts his whole body into it, lunging and swinging like he's really throwing a ball down a lane.

"I think it's very good exercise," he said. "It kind of gives you that old feeling of being back in the ol' bowling alley again."

His wife, Gladys, also enjoyed playing.

"It's fun -- a lot of fun, but I need a lot of practice," she said.

For Shirley Ramm, the Wii games open up a new way to be active.

Ramm said she hasn't been able to bowl since her right hand became stiff with arthritis. But, she has enough dexterity to control the Wii remote.

"With the Wii I can do it, and that's a blessing really," said the 78-year-old.

Ramm said she thinks the Wii is a great activity for seniors to play because it is active and social.

"They can do something they couldn't do before, and with the outside sports you can do it in your house. It's good to do it together with friends -- it's a lot more fun."

For more information on Hanford Senior Center activities, contact Julie Edwards at 585-2531.

The reporter can be reached at 583-2427.

(June 29, 2008)