Seniors to compete in creativity contest

PORTLAND – They call themselves Pie-on-Ears – as in pioneers – and they are poised to become the first team of senior citizens to compete in a decades-old international competition that tests creative thinking.

“We’re changing all the ideas that people have about old people,” said Lottie Fortune, 77, of Wells, who was headed with her six teammates to Boulder, Colo., on Friday for this year’s Odyssey of the Mind World Finals.

Fortune says she hopes the Pie-on-Ears will show thousands of children and college students next week that old age doesn’t dull creativity.

National Odyssey of the Mind officials say the York County team is the first of its kind, and news of its activities has spurred interest from senior organizations in other states.

The team is competing Monday in the comedy event category for which it had to develop an eight-minute skit with a specific set of props and situations. Their entry depicts a woman who robs a bank because she’d rather be in jail than be forced into a nursing home.

“We chose to show a few problems and concerns [that come] with age, such as not being able to hear well and not wanting to go to a nursing home,” said Elsie Cebulla, 62, of Shapleigh, the youngest team member.

The team will perform the skit in front of a panel of judges who evaluate how closely they adhere to guidelines and how well they get their points across, said Fern Brown, a Kennebunkport teacher who serves as the team’s coach.

About 150 of the 800 teams competing in Colorado will be in the comedy event, although the York County team is in a division specifically for college students, Brown said. Teams are divided into divisions based on age range, and compete in problem-solving categories that range from technical to artistic.

The seniors’ team – which includes Fortune, Cebulla, her husband, Harold, Louise Hackett, Ed Scott, Josephine Kezar and Margaret Kent – had to win a regional competition at Bates College to get an invitation to Colorado.

The Pie-on-Ears won easily – they were the only team entered in the college division, Brown said.

Brown had some reservations about the seniors when she first began teaching an Odyssey of the Mind course at York County Senior College in Sanford more than a year ago.

“My fear was they would be stuck in a rut … they wouldn’t be able to get out of the box,” she said.

Her concerns quickly disappeared and she went on to suggest that they apply what they were learning at competitions.

“They’re so far out of the box they don’t know where it is,” Brown said.