For Innisfail’s Shirley Thomas the third time is certainly the charm.
The 77-year-old mother of seven, grandmother of 15 and great-grandmother of 12, entered her third Alberta 55 Plus Summer Games last month in Fairview.
She was aiming for a gold medal after failing to win one during her previous attempts in 2001 and 2009.
And Thomas did not win a single gold medal this time either. She won three.
“I kept telling my kids I was going for gold and then I’d quit,” said Thomas, a widower whose husband Ernie passed away almost eight years ago. “I never expected three.”
Thomas won all her gold medals in the visual arts and crafts competition: hand knitted article, card making and miscellaneous art (a painting of a rose). She also added one silver in the ethnic needlework competition, and two bronzes medals – one in the jewellery making category and the other in the decorative art competition.
Her medal haul also helped provincial Zone 4 (Parkland) win the Alberta 55 Plus Zone Championship Trophy, awarded to the zone achieving the most medal points for Games’ activities.
Thomas, who has lived in Innisfail for the past four years, said she acquired her love for arts and crafts while living most of her married life in the Stauffer area.
“I worked with the cub scouts and with the 4-H club and then with the youth club in Stauffer. I did it (arts and crafts) there,” she said.
As for future competition, Thomas said she would keep going as long as she feels up to it.
“I go to keep busy,” she said. “I am not one to sit in front of a television or in front of a computer.”
Meanwhile, two other Innisfail residents also won medals. Charlie Whatley won a silver in horseshoes while Teresa Rolvink won a bronze medal in the crocheted article competition.
“In 2003 I won a gold for crochet and I wasn’t expecting to win a bronze this time over the bunch we were competing against,” said Rolvink.
Two other Innisfail residents also had outstanding results. Edna Jensen placed fourth in bocce while Yvonne Bouvette also finished fourth in the co-ed slo-pitch 55+ competition.
