They’re Real Sports

If the number of entries in the third annual Glendale Burbank Senior Sports Festival is any indication, today’s senior citizens do not have much use for shawls and rocking chairs.

More than 400 athletes age 50 and over are entered in the 5K or 10K walks or in golf, horseshoes, lawn bowling, pool, shuffleboard, softball and tennis tournaments going on through Sunday.

Shuffleboard entrant Dorothy St. Charles, 88, of Sunland has been playing the game since 1968, when she retired from her job as a Los Angeles County Library assistant.

“I learned in Glendale,” she said, but started a shuffleboard club in Sunland when “gas got so high.” She also wanted “to get the seniors away from their card tables and out in the fresh air.”

Frank Duvall, 69, of La Crescenta started playing tennis when he was a student at Glendale High School, back in 1940. Since his retirement in 1980, the former postal worker has played, just for fun, nearly every day except weekends at Fremont Park. This is Duvall’s second year in the festival.

“It’s been a good experience,” he said. “It’s run very nicely.”

Participants are competing for plaques this year, said Louise Briley, Recreation Program Coordinator for Senior Activities in Glendale. All entrants will receive a T-shirt and certificate of participation. However, the only events still open are the 5K or 10K walks, which will continue to take registrants up until the 8 a.m. starting time Saturday. The entry fee is $5. The walks take place at Verdugo Park, 1621 Canada Blvd., Glendale.

Those not 50 or over, or those who did not register for the other tournaments in time, are welcome to the festival as spectators.

A schedule of events is available at either the Glendale Adult Recreation Center, 201 E. Colorado Blvd., or the Joslyn Senior Center, 1301 W. Olive Ave., Burbank, or by calling (818) 548-3775.