The 2009 Cape Cod School Day Games - Cape Cod's Regional Special Olympics Day - met with great success on its third annual outing! My second consecutive year MC'ing the event, I saw many faces I knew from last year's event, and many more that I had the pleasure of meeting for the first time.
To say I'm truly lucky and blessed to host this day would be an understatement. The people I've come to know at this Special Olympics day - both the athletes, their parents, and the dozens of volunteers, are among the kindest, most compassionate and most sincere in the world. I was greeted by hearty handshakes and warm hugs from those I knew, and those I didn't.
Special recognition belongs to so many who made the day possible, including the 102nd Intelligence Wing, Air National Guard at Otis AFB; members of the Mashpee Police and Fire Department and Town Officials, and truly with the Mashpee High School students of the Kiwanis Key Club, who organized and ran this event with their faculty supervisors.
In the video above, invite you to enjoy just a fraction of the sights and sounds I treasured from today. Originally planned for outside (last year we had a beautiful day), the event was moved inside due to rain. In this video, you'll see: the Special Olympics oath, a performance by the Xtreme All-Star Cheerleaders, the Mashpee High School Color Guard, a number of Special Olympic events, a Mashpee High School student band performing, and above all, kids and adults having fun! Other events for kids, like facepainting and temporary tattoos, were available, too! You'll see snippets of this same video on NECN early in the upcoming workweek, particularly on Tuesday morning at 6:51 AM in Sky Scenes.
For more information on Special Olympics, or how to volunteer and become part of this magical event yourself, head on over to the Special Olympics website at www.specialolympics.org. (Added on 6/2/09: To see my broadcast of the above video clip, check out our NECN team Weather Blog, here.)
After the athletes departed, I spend a few moments with the Mashpee High School students who were so amazing...and made sure to get them all some face time! :)
