Gathered in the front lounge of Oak Park Place on Bridge Avenue, a group of seniors look on as one of their fellow residents walks up to bowl.

The resident takes a few steps forward, bends her knees, pulls her arm back and then releases.

It’s almost as good as a regular game of bowling.

In reality, however, these seniors are playing a game of virtual bowling on the Nintendo Wii system.

Incorporating all the movements of a regular bowling game, the residents use a motion-sensing Wii remote — sometimes nicknamed “Wiimote” — to play the sport.

“They have been having a blast with it,” said Oak Park Place Activities Director Cindy Bodensteiner. “Everytime we do it, we get bigger crowds coming out.”

This past spring, Oak Park Place, Good Samaritan Communities of Albert Lea, St. Johns Lutheran Home, and Thorne Crest Retirement Community each received one Wii system and at least one Wii play accessory package as a donation from the Albert Lea Thrivent Chapter, Freeborn County Thrivent and Wal-Mart of Albert Lea.

The thought behind the donation was to provide some activity-based technology for the seniors to help them meet some of their basic social, educational, recreational and therapeutic needs.

It has become a growing trend in care centers across the country.

Bodensteiner said the care centers got the Wii systems after a Thrivent member called up one day explaining that they had some extra grant funds.

The Thrivent groups donated the game systems and Wal-Mart donated the play packs, along with some other games like tennis, boxing and billiards.

Besides giving the seniors exercise, the games also give them the chance to take part in activities from their younger years.

“Most of them were league bowlers,” Bodensteiner said. “It’s neat to watch them lining up — it’s what they used to do.”

Alice Meixell, who scored two strikes and a spare while the Tribune were visiting the group, said she was on a league team for two or three years probably 50 years ago.

“Having this in here has brought me back again,” Meixell said.

The sport can be done while standing up or sitting in a chair or on a walker.

“Everybody’s on the same playing field,” Bodensteiner said.

The group cheers when a fellow resident gets a strike or has a good bowl and offers tips when the ball ends up in the gutter.

Most of the time they catch on quick, she said. She encourages the residents to keep their wrists straight and follow through just like with a regular game of bowling.

“This has been great here,” she said. “It opened up a whole new world for them. I never would have thought they would have caught on so quick.”

The residents can even talk about the Wii with their grandchildren — the younger Wii players — and have something they can relate to.

“It came out of the blue and was a wonderful idea,” she said. “It’s been really fun.”