ADAMS TWP - Eating your vegetables has never been so much fun.

Seniors from Penn-Mar Plaza and area residents over age 60 played bingo as usual at the Lutheran Services Society Senior Center in Mars on Friday afternoon, and the prizes consisted of a lot of green.

Lois Gregory, assistant manager of the senior center adjacent to Penn-Mar Plaza, packed a dozen or so paper sacks with candy and/or zucchini for zucchini bingo on Friday.

The sacks were placed on a table in the middle of the room, and bingo winners had to choose one without shaking or otherwise investigating what may be in the bag.

Gregory said some sacks contained a fresh zucchini, while others had a zucchini plus a candy bar inside. If the winner does not want the zuke, he or she must put it somewhere.

"You might find a zucchini in front of your door," said Gregory.

Penn-Mar Plaza resident Jeanne Guarini was one of 14 zucchini bingo players on Friday afternoon. Guarini won several of the vegetables during the game. Although some winners were expected to leave anonymous gifts of zucchini for their neighbors, Guarini said she did not plan to deposit them anywhere but in her kitchen.

"I'm going to cook them!" said Guarini.

Her favorite recipe for the prolific squash is to sauté them with fresh tomato, then serve the concoction over angel hair pasta with a little Parmesan or Romano cheese. Guarini planned to bring the dish to the annual senior center picnic held on Saturday.

"It's something different," said Guarini, who also won a couple candy bars.

Hazel Huckestein of Mars also had plans for her zucchini. Huckestein prefers peeling and slicing the zucchini before dipping it in batter and breadcrumbs and dropping the slices into a frying pan coated with butter.

The senior center program is operated by the Lutheran Service Society under a contract with Butler County Area Agency on Aging, and funded in part by the Pennsylvania Department of Aging.