Four Fernie residents have returned home from the 55+ BC Games as provincial cribbage champions.
Representing the East Kootenay Zone, Fernie’s Dorothy Smith, Aki Kimoto, George Cockburn and Dale Newlove were crowned the cribbage champions.
Team Smith and Kimoto took gold, while Cockburn and Newlove took silver.
Dorothy Smith and Aki Kimoto came out on top of Flight C to play the final round against fellow Fernie residents George Cockburn and Dale Newlove, winners of Flight A.
Smith and Kimoto secured the final and were crowned overall cribbage gold medalists, with Cockburn and Newlove bringing home the silver.
Over two days of competition, Smith and Kimoto played 33 games of cribbage, where 33 other teams also competed.
The competition was broken down into three flights - A, B and C - with gold silver and bronze in each. After 30 games, the winners of each flight competed against each other for the finals, where Smith and Kimoto came out on top in the gold category.
This resulted in the team leaving the games with two medals: first in flight and first overall.
This served as Smith’s seventh trip to the 55+ Senior Games. Last year, Smith and her partner got gold in their flight and silver overall. This year, Smith turned 77-years-old. She says it feels like she’s been playing cribbage forever.
“I have three gold medals now and two silvers, total, in my time here,” said Smith.
“I enjoy all kinds of cards. I had canasta, I had whist… I belong to the seniors here, and we play cribbage three times a week.”
A highlight of Smith’s career competing provincially in cribbage was three years ago when she received a 28-point hand. Notably, the odds of getting a 28 hand in a two-player game is 1 in 15,028.
This year, the annual 55+ BC Games were held in Kimberley and Cranbrook from September 11 to 15 where B.C. seniors competed in a variety of sports ranging from mountain biking and archery to whist, and everything in between.
There were a total of 2200 participants and 23 venues.
Since 1987, the 55+ Senior Games, formerly known as the BC Senior Games, have championed the idea of lifelong activity and friendly competition among older B.C. residents.
The 2019 games will held in Kelowna from September 10-14.