When it came to the 2022 Canada 55+ Games in Kamloops, for the Brekke and Peters’ families, it was definitely a family affair.

Dave, 83 and Irene Brekke, 80 and their daughter Alison Grove, 61, all participated in dragon boat racing at the Games.

The Star met with them back in Whitehorse Wednesday.

Dave Brekke was asked the secret of success at his age.

“I guess keeping interested in things and doing things and keeping blood flowing, I think has been a big thing but I think Irene has played a very big part. She’s so well-read. I was a non-reader.”

Irene Brekke added “But it’s your just trying to go into all these sports and just keep alive, right?”

Dave Brekke was diagnosed as a diabetic many years ago. He believes all the research his wife has done has helped him outlive the doctor’s prediction at the time that he had 10 years left to live.

Dave Brekke said it was really good for the family to participate in the 55+ Games together.

“It certainly made us all feel good, I think.”

Irene Breke added “We all stayed together.”

Grove added “(I) got a chance to thank them for all the other things they’ve done. Taking me to Hawaii and taking me to Disneyland and all that.

“It was like a really nice holiday. Kamloops was just all welcoming and I’m always one of those tearjerkers at pomp and circumstance when you see all the teams coming in the Olympics and all that, right, and here we were doin’ it. It was so fun.”

This was Grove’s first 55+ Games.

“I wanted to do it for a long time ... I spent lots of time playing crib so I was just thinking maybe hang around and play crib games or something and then they said dragon boat, so wow!”

“Irene and I rowed but Alison was the drummer, sitting on the front there,” recalled Dave Brekke.

“That was so, so fun,” related Grove.

“Everybody loved Alison,” chimed in Irene Brekke. “And you had such good help from the people in front of you, right?”

“I couldn’t have done it without Monique (Levesque) and Dawn (Frolich),” recalled Grove. “The front rowers. And they kept strong. Monique had a metronome in her ear but Dawn – a few times we were without Monique and Dawn – anybody gets tired but this Dawn, she just – strong, strong, strong. All along, she kept it (going).”

(A metronome is a device used by musicians that marks time at a selected rate by giving a regular tick.)

Frolich has been in the Paddler’s Abreast voyageur boat to Dawson City in the Yukon River Quest quite a few times.

“She knew what she was doing,” related Irene Brekke.

Grove added “And all the paddlers. They were all just so super sweet.”

“We thought we were going to have competition from across Canada,” said Irene Brekke. “But it turned out we just had Kamloops and Kelowna and us. So they’re our arch-rivals. So of course the big race was between them and Kamloops won.”

“And then I was absolutely last – our boat came absolutely last,” recalled Grove. “Because what they did was they split up the Yukon team and then kindly filled our boats with all their paddlers. We had another drummer ... and our team came absolutely last.”

The family didn’t exactly get off to a great start at the Games.

“The very first day we got there, my mom had to get five stitches in her thumb and my dad’s insulin pump failed, so they were both ‘not there’ that day, at all,” recalled Grove.

Team Yukon did win one race.

“That’s the one they won against us,” said Grove.

“Just by a fraction, like two seconds or something,” said Irene Brekke.

“That was the only boat we were in proper competition with. The other boats were like, gone,” related Grove.

“We also had a lot of competitions with them on 100 metres, 1500 metres,” said Irene Brekke.

“It was fun,” said Grove.

“And then they gave us a little party after, like food and beer,” said Irene Brekke. “It was very nice. A lovely place to go.”

When asked if they plan on participating in 2024, Dave Brekke responded “If we’re still here. And able.”

“I’m going to try to go for track,” said Irene Brekke. “That’s what I used to do. We started getting fit already. We have an exercise room in our condo and we’ve been doin’ it.”

It’s not known at this time if dragon boat racing will be part of the 2024 Games, as it was only a demonstration sport this year. 32 Yukoners participated in dragon boat racing this year.

Almost 2,900 athletes competed in the 2022 55+ Games.

“There was so much feeling of community there,” said Dave Brekke. “That’s what really stood out for me. We’re from all over, from different backgrounds but there was such an acceptance and respect for everybody.

“I’ve been to several of them and they’ve all had a similar community spirit.”

Melanie and Darrell Peters and Mel’s Mom Sherry Smith all participated in 5 pin bowling. Smith won a bronze medal. In addition to a bronze medal in singles, Darrell received an honorary gold for exceptional sporting behaviour.

“We were all in the same sport, so we all competed at the same time,” said Melanie Peters. “We weren’t supposed to, because he was in track and field, doing the 50 (metres) and the 100 and I was in bowling with my mom and then Darrell ended up being diagnosed with heart disease in February, so he had ... a triple bypass in April. So he went from track and field to crib. We had a cardiologist appointment early July and they said he could lift ... 10 pounds.

“Brenda (Dion) was able to get us all in the same group, which was kind of neat, the three of us,” added Darrell Peters. “And no expectations. It was not about – me anyway. I had zero expectations.”

Smith said “The bowling alley that we were bowling in was the bowling alley I learned to bowl in 35 years ago in Kamloops ... it was really great.”

The Peters family lived in Kamloops for seven years during the 1980’s.

As for how their week went, “It was wonderful,” said Smith. “I got to meet so many nice people and have so much fun. The best thing about the bowling thing is we went out to a couple of nights where they had entertainment for us. We bought tickets and we met these wonderful girls from Ontario because we all liked to dance ... so we all got up and danced and they came and joined us and so that happened two nights in a row.

“And then they found out I was bowling, so they said ‘We’re gonna come cheer you on’ and I thought ‘Oh, yeah, right’. The next day, they came to the bowling alley. It was our finals. They cheered us on. They were so great. And they actually sang our Yukon song (written by Hank Karr). It was so much fun. So we had all these cheerleaders there and friends and family and everybody was so great.”

“We met some really, really cool people,” said Darrell Peters.

“That’s the best part of it, right?” added Melanie Peters.

Darrell Peters added “Bill (Clancy, 94) from Alberta, oldest competitor of the whole Games, and he knew people we knew ... he was just excited to meet us and took a picture and Mel fixed his Facebook too so he could put his picture on Facebook.

“I made a point of being over-friendly with everybody. I got everybody hugging in there. It was awesome, because you know people are standoffish about hugging and touching. I had everybody going in that place ... that’s what I liked about it the best.

“I was the worst bowler of everybody. A 94-year-old (Clancy) kicked my butt. It’s all good. I didn’t care. It was all fun for me.

“The best part of it for me was ... at the end of it when they gave me an award. They got me a coffee cup from the facility itself, the people that run the facility. They gave me a ‘Falcon Lanes’ cup, which they don’t give out, I guess, very often,” Peters related.

“When they gave it to him ... they were like ‘We just want to say what a great time we had with you. You really exemplified the reason why we do this – just to have fun and do your best bowling and meet people,’” recalled Melanie Peters.

“And Darrell’s like ‘Thanks everyone. This is really what it’s about for me. I had so much fun meeting all of you and just the stories and the laughter.’

“And so everyone’s clapping and then he’s starting to head off the bowling lane ... as he’s walking away, they said ‘No, we’re not done with you yet. Can you come back?’ So Darrell’s heading back there, not sure why and the guy himself is tearing up and saying ‘We’re allowed to give a gold medal for sportsmanship’ ... he was just moved and he said ‘You’ve really made this week for all of us.’ and Darrell, who’s usually non-stop chatting, he couldn’t even say anything.”

“It was really cool,” said Darrell. “I’ve won a lot of things in my life – a lot – and this was by far the best.”

“He had the crowd going,” said Melanie Peters. “It didn’t matter if it was his shots or the other people’s shots. He just had everyone up and clapping.”

Darrell Peters added “Even the guy that came second at the end that was leading the whole tournament – was bowling with me, he was emotional, he come up and said ‘I’ve never experienced this, it’s really neat,’ because it’s quiet in the bowling alley and everybody’s high-fiving and he said ‘Thank you. That was awesome.’ and I think that’s what it’s all about. People are still competitive – I get it. But I was there just to meet people and have fun.”

Melanie Peters said she ran into another Yukon athlete who met a bowler who said “You know that guy, he’s a bowler but he’s not very good but he had the whole place rockin.’”

“Doing it with Sherry, too, having the mother-in-law there, was pretty awesome ... we called ourselves The Three Amigos,” said Darrell Peters, who won the bronze medal by default, as there were only three bowlers in his division.

“And we talked about going to the next Games. And we’re talking about staying in bowling just because of the connection ... I had no interest in bowling before. I still don’t, really,” he said.

“But you just want to meet up with them,” said Melanie Peters.

Smith plans on participating in 2024.

“I think I’d stick with bowling because I really do like bowling. That’s the sport that I always liked.”

Smith added “It was just a great time.”