Special Olympians beat the snow

BY JOHN LUND
Times-Shamrock Writer

“And they’re off!”

When Area P manager Joe Lillis echoed the familiar start call through Tunkhannock Area High School Memorial Stadium, athletes broke from the starting line with grins on their faces while family and friends cheered them on from start to finish.

But in these races, there would be no rush to the finish line.

On this day, everyone was a winner.

More than 300 athletes from 10 schools from throughout Northeast Pennsylvania braved the snowy weather and participated in the annual Area P Special Olympics in Tunkhannock on Thursday, all leaving with at least one medal hanging from their necks.

After the traditional ‘Parade of Champions’ kicked off the event, it was off to the races.

The event is held for all ages from Lackawanna, Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Wyoming counties, and includes races of 50 meters, 100 meters, 200 meters and 400 meters.

Each race was broken into groups, including eight-years-old and under, nine to 12, 13 and older, walking and wheelchair divisions.

Students from the Tunkhannock Area student councils helped to coordinate other activities, such as the softball ‘shot put’ toss, bean bag toss, face painting and other games.

The concession stand was also up and running to provide food and drinks to the athletes and fans.

Erika Colavitti, who helps coordinate the Special Olympics program in Wyoming County, said the event is rewarding to everyone, not just the athletes.

“Just seeing their faces when they’re running or getting their medals, it’s priceless,” she said. “The most important thing is that the kids are happy and enjoy this. It’s just such a rewarding event for us. I love it.”

Colavitti said that the event is a great way for students to make friends with other schools and come together every year to participate in something that they’ll always be sure to remember.

“They get to be with other schools and make friends, and the self-esteem boost they get through all of this doesn’t have a price,” Colavitti said.

Colavitti started prepping for the Special Olympics as early as January and began sending letters out to sponsors asking for donations.

“Some of them volunteer, some of them send money and other donate things for the concession stand,” she said. “I have to also coordinate with the students so they can get their physicals in order to participate. There’s definitely a lot of paperwork involved.”

The event is one of the longest-running Special Olympics in the area, having been held for more than 25 years.

Athletes can also choose to have their times or distances measured and recorded so that they can qualify for the state competition at Penn State University.

This year’s Special Olympics were originally scheduled for Wednesday, April 22, but was pushed back a day to avoid an afternoon’s worth of rain.

Unfortunately, rain gave way to snow flurries on Thursday morning, but, according to Colavitti, had little effect in preventing all of the athletes from having a blast.

“The adults are usually cold, but the kids are not,” she laughed. “I always hope that the weather will cooperate. They enjoyed themselves and were happy, but we’re definitely looking forward to the weather in the month or May.”

According to the Special Olympics Pennsylvania website, Area P has 530 active athletes and 28 unified partners participating in the program, along with 161 volunteers, who spend their time as coaches, administrators, equipment managers and more to make the program a wonderful success.