Cheers of the traditional Special Olympics oath "Let me win. But if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt," inaugurated the sixth annual Upper Valley Special Olympics at the Dartmouth Skiway on Saturday. More than 100 athletes competed in the day's events, whose volunteer staff included 169 Dartmouth students.
The event is organized by a 25 member management team, which includes three Dartmouth students, all of whom have worked with the program since matriculating at the College. This year, Emily Luscz '08 assisted with registration while Kyle Sherry '09 and Kirsten Orloff '10 coordinated the opening and closing ceremonies.
The Dartmouth volunteers, which included members of various athletic teams and Greek organizations, was led by Gamma Delta Chi and Chi Gamma Epsilon fraternities. Jim Adler '60, the house advisor for Chi Gam, is one of the cofounders of the Upper Valley Special Olympics. GDX and Chi Gam traditionally have the highest volunteer participation in the event, Adler said.
"[Special Olympics] plays a great part in bringing the community together. It blows my mind we get 169 students out on a Saturday morning when they'd rather sleep in," said Pete Bleyler '61, who co-founded the event with Adler.
Dartmouth Ski Patrol member Max McClorey '11, a volunteer at the event, said that he was undeterred by the 8 a.m. start time.
"I'm never going to turn down a day on the slopes," McClorey said. "I had done some Special Olympics stuff in high school, and had a good time with it."
Ski Patrol members assisted groups of Special Olympic athletes on the chair lifts and down the slopes to the starting lines, meeting the athletes at the bottom of the races to guide them to their next events.
Luke Cherrington '11, a member of Ski Patrol, noted that the event was inspiring.
"It was really motivating, they were all so into what they were doing," Cherrington said.
Adler and Bleyler founded the Upper Valley Special Olympics in 2003. Bleyler's daughter Tracy was a Special Olympian in Virginia before the family moved to New Hampshire. Before the Upper Valley event was created athletes had to travel to Concord, N.H. to participate in such competitions.
Bleyler and Adler, both members of the Dartmouth Club of the Upper Valley, decided to turn the event into a community service initiative for the Club.
"[The Special Olympics] gives the opportunity for people with special needs to get out, compete," Bleyler said. "You see their faces when they come off what they were doing and get on the award stand. It doesn't matter if they got fifth or first place."
The events at the Special Olympics are divided based on ability. The athletic competition, which include snowshoeing, cross country skiing and alpine skiing, vary in difficultly from Giant Slalom and advanced downhill skiing to the "10-Yard Glide" for athletes with severe physical disabilities. Athletes compete in teams such as the Claremont Cool Cats, Upper Valley Hawks and Temple Tornadoes.
"Athletes' ability runs a complete gamut," Adler said. "Athletes at Special Olympics have intellectual challenges. Some also have physical challenges, but not all. You'll see some absolutely flying. They're great athletes, once they're at the starting line and someone says 'Go,' that's it."
The event also drew volunteers from the Upper Valley, including members of women's hockey teams from high schools in Hanover and Lebanon, Boy Scout troops, Dartmouth alumni and a group of 18 skiers from Woodstock, Vt., that organized the snowshoeing events. Adler said that the Special Olympics fosters a strong relationship between Dartmouth students, alumni and members of the community.
"This draws a remarkable cross section of people who live here in the Upper Valley," he said. "They come here to work and play together, that's terrific."
Orloff stressed the importance of the volunteers' role as "cheerleaders" and said that she saw the event as an opportunity to make a difference in Dartmouth's surrounding community.
"Overall Dartmouth students are very privileged. Everyone has so much going for them in their lives, it's wonderful to realize that we're in this Hanover bubble, and here are local places -- we don't have to go across the world, even though we can -- to help people," said Orloff, who also volunteers by bowling with Special Olympics athletes every week. "The athletes become my friends, it's a part of my life now. Every Tuesday I go bowling with my friends. Once you establish relationships like this it becomes a part of your life."
Dartmouth students also participate in the Special Olympics' Fall Games, organized by employees at Hypertherm, the Upper Valley's largest corporation, and at the Summer Games, which are organized by Sherry and Luscz.
