Provo group defies the trend that ‘Pokemon Go’ is only for the young
From left, Judy Anderson, Tammy Hulterstrom, and Nicia Whitaker play "Pokemon Go" along with others at the table during Judy Anderson's Pokemon-themed birthday party Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2016, at Joe Vera's Mexican Restaurant in Provo. The group sported shirts with Pokemon from the game and came together for Judy Anderson's 76th birthday party. ISAAC HALE, Daily Herald
Nicia Whitaker, left, and her daughter Sophie Whitaker play "Pokemon Go" while they wait for their food during a Pokemon-themed birthday party Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2016, at Joe Vera's Mexican Restaurant in Provo. ISAAC HALE, Daily Herald
Wendy Shanks plays "Pokemon Go" while sporting a shirt of the Pokemon Eevee during a Pokemon-themed birthday party Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2016, at Joe Vera's Mexican Restaurant in Provo. ISAAC HALE, Daily Herald
Judy Anderson wears a headband for a Pokemon guessing game as she talks with friends while playing "Pokemon Go" during a Pokemon-themed birthday party Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2016, at Joe Vera's Mexican Restaurant in Provo. ISAAC HALE, Daily Herald
Judy Anderson checks out her Pokeball cake just after she and the group posed for a picture during a Pokemon-themed birthday party Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2016, at Joe Vera's Mexican Restaurant in Provo. The group all wore Pokemon shirts created by Tammy and Erika Hulterstrom to celebrate Judy Anderson's 76th birthday. ISAAC HALE, Daily Herald
Bill Hulterstrom takes a picture of the birthday group for during a Pokemon-themed birthday party Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2016 at Joe Vera's Mexican Restaurant in Provo. The group all wore Pokemon shirts created by Tammy and Erika Hulterstrom to celebrate Judy Anderson's 76th birthday. ISAAC HALE, Daily Herald
Annie Shanks, left, plays "Pokemon GO" with her mother Wendy Shanks during a Pokemon-themed birthday party Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2016, at Joe Vera's Mexican Restaurant in Provo. ISAAC HALE, Daily Herald
From left, Tammy Hulterstrom, Nicia Whitaker and her daughter Sophie Whitaker prepare to play a Pokemon guessing game during a Pokemon-themed birthday party Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2016, at Joe Vera's Mexican Restaurant in Provo. ISAAC HALE, Daily Herald
Judy Anderson puts on a headband with a Pokemon on the front in preparation to play a Pokemon guessing game during a Pokemon-themed birthday party Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2016, at Joe Vera's Mexican Restaurant in Provo. ISAAC HALE, Daily Herald
Tammy Hulterstrom, left, and Judy Anderson play "Pokemon GO" as they wait for their food during a Pokemon-themed birthday party Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2016, at Joe Vera's Mexican Restaurant in Provo. ISAAC HALE, Daily Herald
Partygoers play "Pokemon GO" as they wait for their food during a Pokemon-themed birthday party Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2016, at Joe Vera's Mexican Restaurant in Provo. ISAAC HALE, Daily Herald
The main swell of the “Pokemon Go” fad may have passed, but Provo still boasts pockets of passionate players.
If you stepped into Joe Vera’s in Provo on Tuesday night, you would have noticed a group of ladies towards the back, phones in hand, laughing and giggling like school girls. Looking closer, you might have realized they all had unique Pokemon character shirts, and their phones were all tuned to the “Pokemon Go” app.
“Ooh, look, there are a lot of Pokestops just right here,” said Judy Anderson, after sitting down to their table.
This multigenerational group of ladies were celebrating Anderson’s 76th birthday in full “Pokemon Go” style. In addition to the hand-painted shirts, this happy gaggle of mothers, daughters and granddaughters talked “Pokemon Go” levels and tips throughout dinner and well into their dessert of a Pokeball cake and cookies.
The ladies jokingly call themselves a book club, but no books are involved. They are an 11-woman-strong “Pokemon Go” fan club, known to hang out in the wee hours of the night catching Pokemon. With ages spanning from 17 to 76, this group doesn’t quite fit the typical player makeup — but they are avid competitors.
How they got together isn’t all that typical either. Tammy Hulterstrom, 53, of Provo, is Anderson’s daughter. Hulterstrom’s son, Andrew, and Nicia Whitaker’s daughter, Kelsie, were dating seriously before they both recently left on missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Both missionaries were devoted Pokemon gamers who were excited for the “Pokemon Go” launch, but they both left just a few weeks before the game was live.
In support of her son, Hulterstrom downloaded the app so she could tell him about it. She got Anderson into it as well.
“We were just playing proxy for him, but we got hooked,” Anderson said.
Hulterstrom, who works at Rock Canyon Elementary in Provo, told a few co-workers about her new obsession and got them hooked as well. Soon kindergarten teacher Ann Bigelow, and secretary Kim Fountain joined. Lynne Harrington, a fourth-grade teacher at Rock Canyon, was adamantly against it to begin with, but Hulterstrom was persistent.
“She thought it was so stupid, but I just kept telling her to try it,” said Hulterstrom, aka Bulbasaur on Tuesday night.
Harrington did, and now she’s added the game to her exercise routine. She walks multiple days each week, and when she does, she’s catching Pokemon. She also — maybe — checks for Pokemon while on recess duty at school.
“Now I’m totally hooked. I’m totally addicted,” she said laughing. “That’s why I’m the highest level here.”
Harrington, wearing Jigglypuff on Tuesday night, still gives props to Whitaker though, another holdout who is now what you might call a gym leader in some fairly far-flung places.
“We kept telling her just to try it for Kelsie’s sake. One night we were going out to the Riverwoods for a late-night catching session, and she stopped by. We convinced her to come,” Hulterstrom said. “She said she’d only stay for a few minutes, but ended up staying for hours. Now she’s our most competitive battler.”
She’s so competitive in fact, that she will set her alarm in the night, like she did about 2 a.m. Tuesday morning, just to collect coins from the gyms she’s taken over. On a recent LDS history trip, she was the reigning champion in gyms at both the Palmyra New York and the Kirtland LDS temples.
“I was not going to get hooked,” Whitaker said, after showing off one of the gyms she still earns coins in.
In addition to these ladies and their daughters, another Rock Canyon co-worker, Wendy Shanks, got into the fad on her own, with her daughter Annie. They both were excited to join the group.
“My favorite part is the friendship,” Wendy said.
Ultimately, that is what keeps this group going. By all means, they are all passionate players — so much so, they have made their husbands pull over while driving, just to catch a Pokemon. But the friendship, the group dynamic, perpetuates their enjoyment.
“It’s the best way to have companionship and great bonding with all these women,” Anderson said, looking at her friends around the table.
Her granddaughter, Erika, 18, Sophie Whitaker, one of Whitaker’s other daughters, and a few of their friends also round out the group.
“It’s amazing how something so silly can bring people together as friends,” Hulterstrom said.
The friends giggled their way out of Joe Vera’s later that night, hitting Pokestops along Provo’s Center Street, and taking over two gyms. With so many gyms and Pokemon out there, they don’t expect to tire of the game anytime soon.
