Community Corner

Centers Prepare For Challenge Battle

Warren seniors will battle counterparts at Basking Ridge Senior Center in feats of skill.

It has the hallmarks of becoming an epic rivalry ... Patriots—Jets, Lakers—Celtics ... Red Sox and Yankees.

But when a group of seniors representing Warrenbrook Senior Center head to Basking Ridge Feb. 25 for the "Minute to Win It" challenge, they won't have  decades of history to look back on.

In fact, many of them won't have much experience with the challenges that make up the Minute to Win It competition at all.

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"(It's) not mastered, I'm just good at it," Divya Bhatt said Wednesday as she practiced on a challenge organizing sealed five containers containing different numbers of small bells. The containers held three to 15 bells, and Bhatt needed to carefully listen as she shook the containers to tell which held the fewest and which the most, something she hadnt tried too many times before.

"The fewest is easy; the most is easy," she added. "It's the others that are not easy."

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The real pressure comes from the time factor: in competition, contestants only have one minute to complete each task. "One minute is very quickly passed," Bhatt said.

Teams of seniors representing the two centers will face eight such one-minute challenges, testing their skills at bean bag tossing, sorting M&M candies by color, balloon-juggling or assembling a 16-piece puzzle made from the front of a cereal box. And while those challenges are obvious tests of dexterity and coordination, some of the challenges are maybe a bit less so.

Such as the challenge Ghanshyam Patel took to move cotton balls from one table to another about 10 feet away ... by getting the balls to stick to his nose using a dab of petroleum jelly, walking to the other table, and shaking them loose.

Patel tested his skills Wednesday, moving five cotton balls successfully—much to the enjoyment of onlookers.

Win, lose or draw, the competition is more about sharpening cognitive skills and dexterity, as well as having a bit of fun, according to Warrenbrook Senior Center Director Gwen Chalker.

"We try to offer activities that are fun, and help keep them busy," Chalker said. 

Which is why Bhatt said she always takes part in such activities. For Ramesh Puri, who divides her time in Warren, with her son and his family, and India, the transporation services and center activities assure many of the seniors at the center regular activity.

"This center has so many activities," Puri said. "She (Chalker) keeps us very happy with the mental challenges and so much to do."


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