Its mahjong madness
Posted on Friday, September 5, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/bcdr/News/65433/
ROGERS Monday mornings and Thursday afternoons mean one thing for a group of senior citizens who attend the Adult Wellness Center here mahjong.
Based on an ancient Chinese card game, mahjong is a form of solitaire played with 152 tiles filled with Chinese symbols for winds, jokers, flowers, cracks and dots by four or more players.
Mahjong is a wonderful, fun game. It keeps the gray matter between the ears busy. While it is important for seniors to keep their bodies active, it is also important for us to keep our brains busy, said Sharon Higdon, the instructor for the Wellness Centers mahjong class.
The Wellness Center began offering the game as a class when Higdon migrated to the Bentonville area from Florida three years ago.
In Florida, mahjong is played 24 / 7. There are even tournament cruises there, Higdon said. I would like to be able to have a mahjong league here. (The game ) is new and intriguing, and I think that is why I like to teach it that, and I want to always be able to have someone to play with.
Since Higdon has been teaching the game, mahjong has become popular throughout the county, with a group of 50 seniors uniting to play each other every second Tuesday of the month in Bella Vista.
Everyone who comes to the Wellness Center to play seems to really enjoy it, said Don Farmer, the fitness coordinator with the center. We offered (mahjong ) classes last year, and we decided to offer them again because of the popularity of the game.
Mahjong classes at the Wellness Center are taught from 10 a. m. until noon on Mondays with open play sessions on Thursdays, starting at 1 p. m. Lessons are just $ 5, and the falls class is half full, Farmer said.
To sign up for a class, call the Wellness Center at 631-3333 or stop in and visit at 2001 W. Persimmon St.