Golden Opportunity

The seven-ten split may be the death of Pat Groce. Or maybe just the 10 pin, standing in the back corner of the lane and unbothered by the straight-ball throws Groce sends in its direction.

Her custom-made ball finds its target often. But perhaps not often enough in this competition among service veterans. Groce and dozens of veterans have gathered for the annual Golden Age Games, a series of skill competitions for those 55 and older who have served in the military. As much as they are competing against each other, and specifically, veterans of the same gender and approximate age, they are competing against a running clock. Veterans of World War II, statistics say, are dying at the rate of 555 per day, according to the National World War II Museum. By next year, fewer than 1 million of the 16 million who served in the second World War will remain, the U.S Department of Veterans Affairs estimates.

There's some evidence of age here at Fast Lane Entertainment beyond the large-print contestant numbers listing the age ranges of the competitors. Knees and backs in this room don't work like they once did, and in a room full of veterans who don't bend over well, bowling balls often get dropped from hip level. The noise the bowling balls make is not the typical smooth glide but rather a booming thud.

Explosions happen on the other end of the lane, too. A few gutter balls sneak in, but even the best bowlers throw a bad ball now and again. Generally speaking, those competing at the Golden Age Games are good bowlers. Some approach scores around 200. Some throw three or four strikes in a row. Some struggle to crest 100. All of them relish the challenge.

••••••••••••••

Pat Groce has bowled for a long time, and she doesn't let much keep her from the lanes. She bowled in Germany while serving as an Army nurse in the early 1960s. Her daughter, Barbara Smith, was born while Groce served in Germany, and Groce went back back to her bowling league just a few weeks after she gave birth.

When she left Germany, she returned to the Midwest and worked at Carroll County Memorial Hospital about 90 minutes east of Kansas City, Mo., for many years. Several of her brothers and sisters moved to Northwest Arkansas, and she followed suit. She worked at Washington Regional Medical Center in Fayetteville in until she retired in 2006.

Retirement is a relative condition for Groce. She volunteers at the Lincoln Senior Center, where she takes blood pressure readings for those who request them. She also spends two days per week providing in-home medical care for an elderly gentleman. Never mind that she's 78 years of age herself.

She also still bowls. Every week, she travels from her Prairie Grove home to Ozark Lanes in Fayetteville, where she plays in a league. Groce averages about 130, a pretty good haul for any bowler.

••••••••••••••

Fast Lane Entertainment in Lowell houses 32 lanes, split between two areas. Every one is occupied by a group of veterans, and that was the case earlier, too, as wheelchair bowling took over the facility. Military insignia decorate the hats and shirts of many of the contestants here. Groce, with her custom 10.8-pound purple ball, green tape on her fingers and bright white shoes, looks like she belongs on the lanes.

Her contestant sign says plenty, too. It indicates her age bracket and reads "Athletes in the Ozarks," the theme for this year's games. Everyone here is at least 55 years old, but Groce competes only against women from 75-79. One of them is two lanes over, and the cheers resound. Mildred Hopper, representing the veterans' hospital in Reno, Nev., won the 75-79 age bracket for women last year in the ambulatory category. She was the only contestant who recorded a score, a two-game tally of 285, that was close to what Groce throws on her best days.

Hopper throws her third strike this game, and congratulations fly in her direction. Groce, meanwhile, closes the first half of her 10-frame game at 54, well below her average. The 10 pin won't budge, but Groce's head does, and she can't help but shake it. She's bowled better than this, and recently.

The 167 that Hopper recorded in her first game will be tough to beat, but it will be some time before the results are officially known. A scoring snafu has crippled progress on the lane Groce and three men are sharing. In the closely monitored world of professional international sports, this kind of thing rarely happens. The pace is slower here. But the volunteers at the Golden Age Games eventually restore order, reset scores, and the contest continues. Groce recovers well, closing out the game with a 128, a little lower than her average, but close.

••••••••••••••

It rained that day in April 2011 when Groce broke her ankle. She'd been out for a walk, and the combination of a wet shoe and a wet stair was a problematic pairing.

"I just slid right off," she said.

Like she does for any other malady, she went to the veterans' hospital in Fayetteville for care. The ankle healed, but her suddenly more sedentary lifestyle caused a complication. Groce gained 20 pounds in the month that followed the injury.

The VA recommended that she enroll in MOVE, the organization's national weight management program. Every VA facility is required to adopt the MOVE guidelines or come up with its own weight management program. Groce started working with MOVE three years ago, and she attends a session there each week. MOVE trainer and physical therapy assistant Amber Johnson provides the weekly session and also homework for Groce's week. Groce walks every day, often through the Prairie Grove Battlefield State Park, which is next to her home. She's also signed up for swimming lessons.

Her ankle is healed, but just as important, she's moving again.

"I feel like I'm doing a lot better," Groce said.

Her daughter notices the difference, too.

"She's always been active," said Barbara Smith, who lived in Bosworth, Mo. "She's more active now than she was even six months ago."

Johnson told Groce about the upcoming Golden Age Games and encouraged her to get involved. Groce signed up for a pair of events -- bowling and the precision walk. The latter of the two blends the ability of walking a mile with knowing how long that feat will take. Groce can usually cover a mile in 25 minutes, but her Golden Age Games goal was 30 minutes, just to give herself a buffer. Her goal, therefore, was to finish the mile walk in exactly 30 minutes.

"Just to get through them, I think, will be an accomplishment," she said in the days before the games commenced.

But the competitive spirit remained: She bowled at Fast Lanes and walked the competition track on scouting missions in the days before the event.

••••••••••••••

Hopper's second game concludes before Groce finishes her first. The defending champion logs a 326 for her two-game total. Which means Groce needs to score a 198 to even tie her competitor.

She never checks the opposing scores. She keeps bowling, and keeps throwing nines. She follows one such start with a ball that clears the last remaining pin for a spare. She misses almost the exact same shot the following frame.

Her daughter has come to watch, and she's there cheering -- and eating.

Groce shares her daughter's snack, which means she refuels mid-contest with a snack more befitting a bowler than a professional athlete -- a soft pretzel dipped in cheese, washed down with a dark soda from a large cup.

Groce's next ball charts its course, slow but true to the mark. She knocks down nine. Again. But she cleans up the mess.

"I knew I had that one," she tells no one in particular.

She opens the final frame of her contest with her first strike of the second game. Two more rolls and the resulting pins puts her second game at 127. It's a little below her average again, and it's far short of a Golden Age gold medal.

Even at just a few off her average, "I didn't feel like I was doing well," Groce says. A series of near misses will lead to that belief.

••••••••••••••

More than 700 competitors from around the country came to Fayetteville and the surrounding cities for the annual Golden Age Games. They represented about 40 states and two territories. Previous Golden Age Games have taken place in Buffalo, N.Y., St. Louis and Honolulu.

Bowling was but one of the events offered in the games, which spanned June 28 through July 2. Participants played dominoes, checkers, table tennis or threw horseshoes. They swam, walked, played shuffleboard and pool or shot air rifles in the ROTC building on the University of Arkansas campus. Some golfed at Berksdale Golf Course in Bella Vista.

Different categories sorted competitors into groups with those of similar abilities, allowing veterans with mobility concerns, visual impairments or other health issues to compete.

That they competed matters the most. The national Centers for Disease Control recommends 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise each week. That's true for many older adults, too, the CDC's report said.

Groce gets that each week, thanks to her daily walks. She'd been practicing for the bowling competition all her adult life. That event did not work out in the games, but less than 24 hours after she concluded the bowling tournament, she started her 1-mile precision walk. Her time of 22 minutes was just three minutes off her desired pace.

She won her age division's gold medal.

She got through her events -- and better.