Seniors Corner: Here Are Some Fun Ways to Stay Active

By Chuck Reutter

I want to inform our readers about two very popular activities enjoyed by our people who live in the core: chair volleyball and lawn bowling.

Chair volleyball is one of the many activities taking place within the Sun City Civic Association campus, located at 28650 Sun City Blvd. in Menifee. It has enough of a following for people to play each other in organized teams. There is even a league.

This league recently had its championship on the campus with teams from all over the Inland Empire. For more information about this wonderful game for seniors, visit this website

My friend Conrad Melton, who is involved with our local lawn bowlers, submitted this item about how popular lawn bowling is around the globe. Here is his report:

The game of lawn bowls is very simple to learn and to play, but it usually takes a few years before you'll be recognized as "a great player." Hence, both the attraction and the mystery: New players can't believe how simple it looks but how difficult it is to get that "petrified grapefruit" to go where you want it to.

The goal of the game is to get more of your team's bowls (the "balls" we roll) closer to the jack (the small white ball) than your opponents.

It's a big surprise when you first pick up a bowl and feel how heavy it is. But the bigger surprise is when you roll it and see it doesn't go straight! Wow. The bowls are not round. Bowls are rolled on their smooth area (areas without emblems or markings), with the small emblem on the side to which you want it to curve.

How much it will actually turn is determined by how fast you roll it, where you aim, the condition of the green, and even the force of the wind and the amount of moisture in the grass.

While a bowling green is square, games are actually played in assigned lanes (known as rinks). Each rink is a rectangle, roughly 14 by 120 feet.

It’s a little like curling, but without the ice. Bowls is a game for all ages from 9 to 90, and there are 3 million players around the world. Lessons are free and it’s one of the few sports you can play with your spouse and children. Getting better is all about your attitude. If you’d like to try it, stop by the green when people are playing.

Editor's note: Chuck Reutter, a longtime resident of the Sun City area of Menifee, shares his thoughts on the senior scene here monthly.