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Blackhawks inspire chair hockey tournament at retirement village

Fired up by the Chicago Blackhawks' presence in the NHL playoffs, a group of especially active retirees at Schaumburg's Friendship Village and official team mascot Tommy Hawk came together for several high-energy games of chair hockey Friday.

With such arena rock anthems as "We're Not Gonna Take It" and "The Final Countdown" taking the participants in their 70s and 80s back to early middle age, Tommy Hawk shared his antics with both the players on the court and their cheering spectators.

Georgene Fiorillo, 75, who moved to Friendship Village from Elgin a year ago, played defense on a team of four that won their game 11 to 3.

As the majority of players are far from chairbound, staying seated during the excitement of play was often a struggle.

"The biggest challenge is keeping your concentration," Fiorillo said.

Having heard about the event a few days ago, Fiorillo knew she wanted to be one of the players. She's a big fan of the Blackhawks because her brothers are.

"I thought, this is going to be fun, especially with Tommy being here!" she said.

Wendy Foster, an account executive for Ivy Marketing Group, said the residents who played in Friday's games are just a small subset of the seniors at Friendship Village who regularly go rock climbing, virtual sky diving, snow-tubing, horseback riding and camping.

"They have a way different way of looking at retired life," Foster said.

Dean Dellaria, director of sales at Friendship Village, said this philosophy has been part of the community since it opened in 1977. Expansions in recent years have created room for 1,000 residents.

"Our goal is for a resident to be as independent as possible," Dellaria said.

However, many different varieties of independent and assisted living are available to Friendship Village residents, he said.

  Doris Faught, left, and Flo Carney face off during the Friendship Village chair hockey tournament. PHotos by Bob Chwedyk/bchwedyk@dailyherald.com
  Fitness Mgr. Jessica Enriquez congratulates Frank Sullivan for being a prolific goal scorer during Friendship Village chair hockey tournament. Bob Chwedyk/bchwedyk@dailyherald.com
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