Thursday evening was the perfect end to the 2017 Carbon County Senior Games.

Over 125 participants from Weatherly, Panther Valley, Lehighton, Jim Thorpe and Palmerton attended a banquet at Dean Anthony's Banquet Hall in Jim Thorpe to recognize the winner of the games, as well as reminisce with friends about memories that were made during the eight-day event.The returning champs, the South Carbon County seniors, made up of Lehighton and Palmerton, defeated North Carbon County, consisting of Jim Thorpe, Panther Valley and Weatherly seniors. The final score was South Carbon County, 770, and North Carbon County, 592.Many of the senior participants were thrilled by the games.First-time competitor, 89-year-old Kitty Bartholomew, said "I had a ball. I won the silver (in boccie) and I'm proud of that. I never played boccie before."She said that she wished she would have joined the games sooner.Ronald Hensel of the Weatherly team was also glad he can continue to participate."I enjoyed going to them and trying to get a medal," he said. "You get to meet friends and socialize."Sandy Fritz and her husband, Ron, of the Lehighton team were happy."We had a great time," Sandy said."I enjoyed all the old people," Ron joked with a laugh."It was fun," Sharelle Kratzer of the Palmerton team said when asked her thoughts on the games.As the banquet began, Cindy Bizarre and Susan Zeigler of the Carbon County Area Agency of Aging, welcomed and thanked everyone for making the games successful for another year.Zeigler said she was amazed by the way the seniors advocated for each other."I've seen a lot of you helping other teammates along and helping other people from other teams along," she said. "I have to applaud you for that."She said that someone wrote on their slip that a 90 and up age division should be added.Zeigler thanked her staff for all the hard work they did to make the event run as smoothly as it did.They also recognized the student volunteers from Palmerton, Jim Thorpe, Panther Valley, Weatherly, Lehighton and Concern for their help.Bizarre then turned over the presentation to Carbon County Commissioners Wayne Nothstein and Thomas J. Gerhard.Gerhard said the senior games are very near and dear to his heart."I want to congratulate everyone," he said. "For those of you who won medals, congratulations. For those of you who didn't, I wouldn't worry about it. It's about getting together with old friends, sometimes friends you haven't seen in the last year and also make new friends."Nothstein, who was a member of the Lehighton seniors, joked with the seniors, saying that the day he took off to participate in miniature golf was switched and he was afraid of hurting himself with bowling. The seniors responded with groans and laughs."I hope everyone had a good time," he said, adding that he promises he will participate more next year during the 30th annual games.Bizarre also broke down the statistics of the game.A total of 219 people registered for the games: 90 men and 129 women.To break it down further, Jim Thorpe had 73 competitors; Panther Valley had 31 people; Weatherly had nine; Lehighton had 78; and Palmerton had 28.Bizarre then awarded representatives from the Panther Valley Senior Center with the Victor Pituch Good Sportsmanship Award and the South Carbon County Team with the Commissioners Cup trophy.