By Rob Potter
LIVINGSTON MANOR — When someone says “Dr. Don Games,” words like “fun” and “excitement” immediately come to mind.
The 14th annual Dr. Don Games, which were held last Saturday afternoon at Rotary Park in Livingston Manor, featured plenty of fun and excitement for kids and adults alike.
The games, which were organized by Dr. Don Simkin, DDS, his wife, Ellen Singer, and members of the Livingston Manor Community Center and Livingston Manor Rotary Club, consisted of a series of Olympic-style contests for toddlers to teenagers.
The Green Team battled the Red Team in six events: Flood Management, Brush ’Em Up, Sports Suitcase Relay, Shoe Kick, Human Pyramid and Tug-of-War.
The members of the Green Team, which was coached by Diane Babich, were Toniann Chianese, Madison Hart, Amber Medina, Angel Medina, Samantha Primiano, Adam Princiotto and Don Princiotto.
The members of the Red Team, which was coached by C.C. Marchese, were Alisa Almeyda, Ethan Blumenthal, Emma Carlson, Annabelle Marchese, Tommy Marchese, Vincent Marchese and Caleb Milk.
During the afternoon, all of the youngsters and their parents enjoyed refreshments including hot dogs, lemonade and watermelon.
Several volunteers helped the kids complete the six events. Those volunteers included Christine Babich, Sue Carlson, John Checchia and George Silverman.
Following the final event, the Human Pyramid, scores were tallied for all of the events. The Green Team prevailed in the Flood Management and Shoe Kick events, while the Red Team won the Brush ’Em Up and Tug-of-War events. The Suitcase Relay ended in a tie.
Each team received two scores from a panel of judges for the Human Pyramid – one for technical merit and one for artistic impression. Both teams earned 39 points for technical merit, but the Green Team outscored the Red Team, 55-47, in artistic impression to win the overall competition.
After the Green Team was declared the winner, Simkin lit a torch which was used during the torch relay at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Ga. Each of the young competitors had the opportunity to hold the Olympic torch.
Simkin was quick to explain that the focus of the Dr. Don Games is for local children to get some exercise, learn about sportsmanship and have fun.
“I think both teams did very well,” Simkin said. “Each of you is a winner today.”
“We’ll see you next year, hopefully,” Simkin added.