Have you ever felt like the Lord put you in the right place at the right time? Where you were almost transended to "another time and another place?" That is exactly how I felt as a Celebrity Volunteer for the Special Olympics, held in Traverse City, from Wednesday Jan 30th-Friday Feb 1st!! While I was there I learned there were 950 athletes and 700 volunteers to make all of this happen! It was incredible!
On Wednesday, my mom and I headed up North on some very trecherous roads to be a part of something very special indeed! It was bitterly cold, and so cold in fact, that the time trials for the athletes were cancelled and the schools within a 50 mile radius were closed! But that didn't stop any of us from enjoyingthe Opening Ceremonies on Wednesday night! Each team came in with their own group all dressed up in their team uniforms and then the ceremony began. One of the largest sponsors is the Wertz Warriors, a group of men (and one or two women) who travel by snowmobile and raise money for the Michigan Special Olympics! This year one of the guests, and a Wertz Warrior, was none other than Mark "The Bird" Fidrych who was a former pitcher for the Detroit Tigers!!! He gave a speech to the athletes and really got them fired up for the games! One of the athletes brought in the "torch" and lit the "flame" to officially kick off the events! It was all very exciting!
Thursday morning I volunteered at the indoor ice rink (because I was sick and on an antibiotic) although I was originally scheduled to work at the outdoor snowboarding event. I was very thankful to be switched because I had missed school on Tuesday (and later learned it had been canceled anyway!!) and we were concerned about being out in the wind as sick as I was. In the morning I handed out medals to the figure skaters and in the afternoon I handed out medals to the speed skaters! I had such a blast! These athletes were amazing :) and could do all kinds of things that I cannot do! I was most impressed with their hard work ethic and their very sweet dispositions! They really cheer one another on and are genuinely happy when their friends do well, even if they didn't place. I was deeply touched.
After a full day of events, in the late afternoon, before dinner, all of the celebrities had an autograph session! One of them was Drew Stanton, a quarterback for the Detroit Lions! Me, and also my queen sister, the beautiful Elisabeth Crawford ~ Miss Michigan USA 2008, Kaylee Magro ~ Miss Southwest Michigan, Brittany Hopkins ~ Miss Southwest Michigan Teen, and Alicia Jaros ~ Miss Washtenaw County signed autographs for nearly 2 hours. Alicia has been involved with the Special Olympics for about six years and has chosen this cause as her personal platform. She also sang the National Anthem for both the open and closing ceremonies. During the closing we got to see videos from the days events and everyone was cheering for each other, laughing when they saw themselves, and just plain having fun!
The closing ceremonies were just as much fun as the opening ones, but concluded with a dance for all the athletes! All of us queen celebrities joined in too and we danced our hearts out! It was wild, crazy, fun, and I wished it didn't have to end! During the closing ceremony, we had a very unexpected surprise. One of the guys that had been attending the Games for years, as a volunteer, met a lovely young lady there years ago and in front of all of us he got down on one knee and proposed to her!! And what a beautiful rock (diamond) she got!! :) I think that volunteer work through the Special Olympics to bring to people together for life is just awesome! Oh yeah . . . she said "yes!!" So glad I was there to witness it! :) What was weird was that the closing ceremonies happen before all the events are through!! We still had one more day to go, but they have the closing for everyone so that those who do not compete in the second days events could head for home.
Friday morning I felt well enough to go outside and attend the snowshoe races. I had no idea what to expect . . . they ran as fast as they could on snowshoes for the win!! I can't even walk on snowshoes ~ nevermind run!! These athletes were incredible! :) I enjoyed handing out the medals and yelling as loud as I could with everyone else during the races! We finished up just before noon and then mom and I left for home.
I had such a fantastic time! I am hooked! I cannot wait to see all of these athletes again and attend the Summer Special Olympics games, in May, at Central Michigan University in Mt. Pleasant!! I hope you will consider coming out to join us and volunteer your time as well!
1 comment:
Looks like you had a lot of fun there!!
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