The pure joy and satisfaction emanating from Vivian Jett’s voice is nothing less than upliftingly infectious when she speaks of the second Annual Brooklyn Senior Games. The director of the Brownsville Recreation Center proudly speaks of the event, now in its second year, as an inspiring merging of the mind, body and spirt for people of all ethnicities, religions and socio-economic backgrounds.
“We welcome everybody,” said Jett. “It is wonderful to see so many people come together and have a good time participating in so many activities. Not just people from Brooklyn, or from our recreational center, but from all across the borough and the city.
“Last year it was primarily participants from the rec centers in Brooklyn,” Jett continued. “But this year, we opened it up to centers from all over New York City.” The Brooklyn Senior Games, free to the public and open to New York City Parks & Recreation Department senior member athletes, offers engaging and friendly competition for adults ages 50 and older—there are participants in their 90s—in an array of sports and activities, including basketball, track and field, table tennis, swimming, bowling, shuffle board and board games.
Jett said those who are younger, including children, take part as volunteers and spectators. This year’s Games, which kicked off Monday with a ceremonial torch relay at the McCarren Rec Center in Brooklyn and held opening ceremonies at the Brownsville Recreational Center Tuesday, has approached 1,000 participants, including adults with special needs and disabilities.
The conceptualizing, planning and launching of the Games “was a collaborative effort of many people,” said Jett, who has been with the Brownsville Rec Center for 19 years and is a 35-year employee of the NYC Parks & Recreation Department. She noted “rec center leaders, rec center participants, community leaders and politicians” such as State senators Jesse Hamilton and Diane Savino and Borough President Eric Adams, who “have all been a part of starting and supporting the games.”
However, Jett emphasized, it is Rone Mattingly, deputy chief of Recreation for the Borough of Brooklyn, who has been the primary driving force behind the seven-day proceedings. The closing ceremonies will be held this Saturday starting at 9 a.m. at Borough Hall.
In addition to the Senior Games, for the fifth consecutive year, the Brownsville Recreation Center has partnered with the New York City arts organization Public Theater to offer opportunities to its participants to partake in the production of a Shakespearean play.
“Theater is near and dear to my heart,” said Jett, who shared she was an original cast member of the acclaimed Broadway musical “Ain’t Misbehavin’,” named after a song by legendary jazz pianist Fats Waller.
This year’s production by the center and Public Theater will be “As You Like It,” a pastoral comedy written by Shakespeare. It will be held at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park over Labor Day Weekend.