CEDAR LAKE | Patiently removing the wooden block from the Jenga tower, then gingerly placing it on top, Santo Dughetti, 83, challenged his opponent, 74-year-old Ray Grimmer, of Hammond, to make the next move.

It was all part of the Indoor Track and Foolish Field Events for folks 50 years and older on opening day Thursday of the 27th annual Cedar Lake Summerfest.

"You've got to tap them to find a loose one," Dughetti said of good Jenga moves, before joining a group in a footrace.

"I think it's fun. It gets you out of the house, and you're getting some exercise," 65-year old Ann Guzior, of Schererville, said after her husband Jim Guzior, 66, took third place in the 200-meter run on the Hanover Central High School indoor track.

Jim Guzior said this is the fourth year he and his wife are participating in what generally are called the senior games. This year, participants are traveling to 12 participating parks for the events that stretch from June to September.

"It's nice. Different places. Different parks. I like that," Jim Guzior said.

"I'll do my three-lap warm-up," Sharon Vanderhye, 58, of St. John, said, adding that she is a first-timer to the games. "I'll do anything but running."

While some wanted to know, jokingly, where the hurdles were, Cedar Lake Parks Superintendent Mary Joan Dickson, the day's organizer, said she would be glad to have some "low" hurdles at next year's event.

Robert Collopy, 89, of Munster, may have been the oldest in the three-lap event, his wife, Crystal, said, adding that the couple enjoy participating in the senior games, particularly miniature golf.

Dickson admired the running form of 67-year-old Bill Leavitt, of Valparaiso, who won the 200 meter.

"I started about five years ago," he said, adding he used to do a lot of speedwalking. "I walked 13 miles two days ago."