The Smith County Whipper Snappers trivia team, made up of Greta Kirby, Marilyn Shumake, and Jane McCall, recently won the Upper Cumberland Senior Brain Games competition and advanced to participate in regional play. On Wednesday, September 26, 2018, the team secured their spot in the state competition by emerging victorious over the Bellevue Brainiacs and Lawrenceburg Aged to Perfection.
The Smith County Whipper Snappers are now preparing to represent Middle Tennessee in the Senior Brain Games state championship, which will be held on October 17, 2018, in Jonesborough, Tennessee.
Smith County Whipper Snapper Greta Kirby told Smith County Insider that she first became involved in the trivia competition as a result of doing accordion ministry with Tim Frank at the Smith County Senior Citizen Center once a month.
Greta recalls, “About four years ago Shirley Woodard said to me, ‘We play a game called Brain Game, why don’t you stay and play with us?’ Since I had nothing else planned for the afternoon, I accepted and that is how I became involved in Senior Brain Games.”
“Since I had a couple of college degrees under my belt I thought I knew a lot. Not so much! I soon learned there was plenty I didn’t know and it gave me the incentive to keep on playing Brain Games,” she continued. “I am into my fourth year. I have found it to be quite a challenge, and honestly I think it is a little addictive. It has given me the opportunity to get to know a lot of nice people and it has been great to visit with other Senior Citizen Centers around middle Tennessee where I have met some awe-inspiring seniors. In a couple of weeks Marilyn Shumake, Janie McCall and myself will be going to Jonesborough, TN to compete for the state prize of $1000 which will be for our Smith County Senior Center. Jonesborough has won it two years in a row! We have our work cut out for us!”
The Senior Brain Game initiative is designed to help keep seniors mentally active, provide an opportunity for social interaction, and get some healthy competition going among senior communities throughout the state.
Under the adopted format, teams of three players each work together to answer the questions presented, pooling their knowledge base. There is also the added element of risk, as the team bases point values on the confidence of their answers in specific categories. The Senior Brain Games competition is therefore both strategy-based and knowledge-based.
The Senior Brain Games competition is sponsored by The Area Agency on Aging and Disability (AAAD), a division of the Upper Cumberland Development District. Visit www.ucdd.org to learn more.
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