Celebrating the past and the present

On June 21, the Special Olympics Association of Campbell River came together at St. Patricks Hall, for their annual athlete awards banquet.

The banquet celebrated has the association’s humble beginnings in 1983, as a single floor hockey team, and what has developed into a long-lasting, successful program that has enriched the lives of many individuals, including Maureen Brinson.

“It’s an organization that gives you way more back than you ever give,” explains Brinson, who has been an integral member of the Special Olympics program in Campbell River since it first began. “I get to share in the athletes accomplishments and you gotta like that.”

Brinson began working for the program in 1983, when she received a registration form during her first day of work. What started out as a job co-ordinating volunteers and driving athletes around, turned into a life long journey for Brinson, who says the program first started when Willow Point’s old timers hockey team, coached by Roy Johnson, Yvonne Savoie, John Flood and Ted Avery, started a floor hockey team that allowed individuals with handicaps, to participate.

So 25 years of servicewas celebrated with a reunion of the 1983 floor hockey team which started it all. Doug Stillen, Dale Elderkin, Denise Siggs, Debbie Lowery, Walter and Dan Dion, reunited into a plethora of nostalgia, while Yvon Savoie, the only remaining coach from the 25-year-old team, made an appearance as well.

Among the myriad’s of awards handed out, the night’s events was highlighted with several major awards.

Andrew Wainright won Rookie of the Year, participating in a number of sports including basketball, track and field, floor hockey and swimming.

The way Wainright applied himself while at the same time succeeding in so many sports, was the determining factor in him receiving the award.

“He just applied himself so well,” Brinson explains of Wainright. “He is such a nice young man, he’s a really good guy.”

The Spirit of Sport award, which is given to the athlete who best exemplifies what the Special Olympics is all about, went to 31- year-old Hazen Meade. Swimming, softball, bowling, track and field and bocce were just a few of the sports Meade excelled at, but what he is profoundly remembered for, is his success in snow-shoeing, which has taken him to Quebec as a Team B.C representative, where he set personal best times and collected four medals.

The Maximum Effort award found it’s way into Ken Sloans palms, who has been a part of the Special Olympics for only two years, and has already been noticed, not only by how hard he tries and how successful he is, especially in basketball, but also by how courteous he is towards his fellow team-mates.

“It’s amazing how hard he tries,” says Brinson. “In (Sloan’s) first basketball game, he scored 20 points.”

Meanwhile, the Margeret Elderkin award went to David Marsters for his excellence in bowling.

Margeret Elderkin was a parent and “was the bowling program”, says Brinson, who noted the award was named in Elderkin’s honour after she passed away. “We are still struggling to replace (Elderkin).”

Coach of the Year went to Ben Jorgenson, who is in his fourth year of involvement in Special Olympics, and also has a son as an athlete.

Finally, Volunteer of the Year went to a woman, who Brinson says is “the opposite of a procrastinator. If she says it will get done it always gets done. I don’t know how she does it, but she does it.”

Lori Holmgren won the honour and is also recognized for introducing four new sports into the Campbell River Special Olympics Association: bocce, rhythmic gym, basketball and golf.

“Her organizational skills and abilities have helped our program grow immensely,” Brinson says of Holmgren, who is just one of many volunteers who make the Special Olympics in Campbell River a possibility. “There are 90 athletes participating in 14 year-round, sports and activities. Everybody here is a volunteer.”

According to Brinson, the athletes have been very busy as of late, getting ready for the annual Howie Meeker Charity Golf Classic, which takes place at the Storey Creek Golf Course, August 15 and 16.

The event is also celebrating a special anniversary this year, hosting its 20th tournament which raises money for Campbell River’s Special Olympics program.

For more information on obtaining tickets for the golf tournament, call 250-923-3673.