THE POLK COUNTY
Pulse
By Ariel Varner You may have heard me in the mornings as I host the morning radio show Swap Shop on KENA 104.1 FM at 8:06, Monday-Friday. I have recently been training a new morning radio host Matt Allen. Before Swap Shop begins, I read off the menu and activities of the day happening at area schools and the Mena-Polk County Senior Centers. Patsy Austin from the Senior Center made a call to the Swap Shop
line Nov. 14, after hearing Matt and me talking about how fun it would be to play beanbag baseball with the
November 29, 2023
News 11
Beanbag baseball is a blast seniors. We both agreed to go that Friday to try our hands at beanbag baseball. The Senior Center hosts several activities, including bridge tournaments every first and third Monday of the month, pool tournaments every first and third Tuesday, and beanbag baseball every Friday at 10 a.m. While executive director Trena Looney was busy helping in the kitchen to serve a delicious lunch to the seniors at 11:45 a.m., Matt and I were assigned sides and learned the rules to beanbag baseball. The center competes with other Senior Centers around Arkansas but practices every Friday as a team. The Mena Senior Center team is called the Base Invaders, and they each have a team shirt with their name on the front of it. A board with a horizontal rectangle marked “Foul Ball,” and nine round holes — two each marked “1st,” “2nd,” “3rd,” and “Out,” and a central opening for “Home Run” with a gold-colored bell in the center. The board stands at the end of a 10-foot walkway lined by seven seniors on each side. This sets the stage for beanbag baseball to begin. Behind the play board are three chairs with handmade base covers labeled “1st,” “2nd,” and “3rd” base, “in Arkansas Razorback fabric, of course,” stated Brenda Hunt who handmade each chair cover. David Smith, who created the playing board, the scoreboard and several beanbags for the game, stepped up to throw his first bag to score a home run! Every member of the team, including Matt, stood up, cheered and high-fived David as he walked around and touched each base while he made his way back to home plate for the
first point of the game. Gloria Smith, David’s wife, stood up and said, “I smell a skunk,” to the team across the walkway while they all laughed and said, “There’s no way you’re gonna beat us that easily.” The competitive spirit of the local seniors was absolutely contagious amongst everyone there, including your KENA duo. I stepped up for my first throw and hit a third base score, got excited and started running toward the bases, only to be reprimanded as Patsy yelled, “No running and no stealing bases.” Matt, who helps coach girls’ fastpitch softball, threw in the comment “No Stealing?” On Eddie Huckabee’s turn, he threw over the play board and everyone yelled, “Hey.” He turned a circle, threw the next bag and hit a home
run and said, “The turn is the trick,” amongst a slew of cheers. The joy, the laughter, the fun the seniors have together is something the Trena described as, “Being a big, fun-loving family.” To join the big, fun-loving family, head to the Mena Senior Center, 401 Autumn Dr. between 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday-Thursday, and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Fridays. Call 479-394-5459 for more information.
