Wii, a way for seniors to stay active

From down the hallway, you can hear the cheers when someone makes a strike, and the sighs when they get a gutter ball. It's not what you'd expect in a place for the elderly and the infirm. But it's a scene that's beginning to pop up around the country.

Assisted living facilities and nursing homes are getting Wiis. The residents are now getting hooked on an electronic game that was once the domain of kids and others much younger than them.

Ernie Orren is 84 years old, and intense about her bowling game.

"I wanna win," she says. "You don't go in saying 'Ahh, I'm not going to win.'  You wanna win."

Orren, who lives at Hawthorne Inn in south Lakeland, says she can play with the Wii all day. The administrator, Kim Broom, couldn't be any happier, because the Wii does more than entertain residents.

"It's stimulating. It's physically active. It's hand-eye coordination," Broom said.

Hawthrone lucked out.  A credit union building an office nearby recently gave the facility a Wii and a big-screen TV as a gift.

"My two kids play the Wii, and to see these adults having fun, it's exhilarating. It's exciting," said John Santarpia of Magnify Credit Union.