With the Summer Games kicking off this week in Paris, several western Massachusetts libraries are hosting Olympic-themed events.
During the opening ceremony on Friday afternoon, Greenfield Public Library teen librarian Francesca Passiglia said, young people are invited to play sports on virtual reality headsets.
She’ll talk with them about Olympics trivia and there will be Parisian-style snacks.
“Mostly I’m just getting kids into the library and hyped up about what’s in the media these days. And hopefully they’ll go home later in the day and watch the opening ceremonies,” Passiglia said.
In Hadley, librarian Susan Brown said the public library is hosting a watch party on Saturday afternoon during the men’s and women’s fencing competition. Students from the nearby Riverside Fencing Club will be in the mix.
“They are going to be providing narration for the event, doing some demonstrations, answering questions and just helping everyone understand about a little but more about the sport,” she said.
Some seniors in western Massachusetts are also getting into the Olympic spirit.
Staff at East Village Place retirement facility in East Longmeadow have organized several competitions for the residents — starting with an opening ceremony Thursday.
“One of my assistants hand-made a torch for us to have the residents pass — and they are looking forward to doing that,” community life director Judith Gagnon said. “And we made a cauldron of flames that we can make it look like they are lighting for the ceremony.”
Over the next few days, the facility’s residents can choose to compete in plastic axe-throwing, Nerf-gun target shooting and an egg-and-spoon race. Gagnon said gold, silver and bronze medals will be awarded.
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