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Woodlands Kiwanis Club's Special Olympics provides a special day for athletes, sponsors & volunteers

By: J. Werner
| Published 04/02/2016

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MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Texas - Let the games begin! The Woodlands Kiwanis Club’s 32nd Annual Special Olympics Invitational featured excitement, great sportsmanship, and excellent weather, Saturday, April 2. Hosted once again at Oak Ridge High School’s athletic field, sixteen teams from the Montgomery County and surrounding area, vying for medals and bragging rights.

The success of the event is due to the many generous sponsors...We have so many wonderful volunteer organizations.


“We’re blessed to have such beautiful weather for the games,” said Kiwanis President, the Reverend John Callison, of The Woodlands Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), which may have provided an advantage when praying for good weather for the event.

Sixteen teams participated and included:

Best Friends Community Services
Brenham Cubs
Brenham State Supported Living Center
Bridgewood Farms
College Station ISD A-Team
Cullen Cougars
Conroe Stars
Huntsville ISD Hornet Heroes
Magnolia Champions
Magnolia Magic
New Caney Nitros
New Waverly ISD
Texas Tornadoes
Warriors of The Woodlands
Washington County Bears
Willis Kool Kats

The games commenced at 10:00 a.m. with the wheelchair events, followed by the assisted walks. The girls walking, dashes, and relays, were run while the boys participated in the infield with the shot put, ball throw, javelin, long jump, javelin, and pentathlon. The order was reversed after lunch with the boys walking, dashes, running, and relay events, taking place, during the girls throwing events, long jumps, and pentathlon.

One of the highlights of the day is the opening ceremony with all the fanfare befitting an Olympic event. Intended to replicate the Olympics opening ceremony, it featured the official torch bearer, Lt. Colonel Steve Frank, USAF, the Oak Ridge Air Force JROTC Color Guard, the singing of the National Anthem by Carol Gegester of First Baptist Church of Conroe, and the Invocation by Rev. John Callison. And then the moment everyone was waiting for...the parade of athletes wearing their colors and carrying their banners (see video), after which Honorary Chairman, Rob Koester, Vice-President of Product Management with Consolidated Communications, declared the games open.

“The success of the event is due to the many generous sponsors,” said President Callison.

The sponsors who contributed donations of money and in kind donations of beverages, and refreshments, included (in alphabetical order): Bradbury Family Home Services, Buffalo Wild Wings, Burger King, Chick-fil-A (Alden Bridge, FM 1488, & Lake Woodlands, Coca Cola of Conroe, Costco, Comcast, Consolidated Communications, Egg & I, Fred & Sheryl Greene, HEG, Healthy Figures of Houston, Hodges Hometown Grocery, Mouse in the House Design, National Charity League, Richie’s Specialty Pharmacy, Sam’s Club, TGI Friday’s, Walmart 242, and WhichWich-Lake Robbins.

A special thanks was extended to the Montgomery County Hospital District for ensuring the safety of the athletes by providing Emergency Medical Services. and an extra special thanks to Richie’s Specialty Pharmacy for providing the athletes with the Olympic medals.

And as you can imagine, it takes a legion of volunteers to ensure the success of the games, and they included…

Alzheimer’s Association
Coca Cola of Conroe
Consolidated Communications
Interfaith of The Woodlands
Kiwanis Market Street Noon Club
Needham Road Baptist Church
Sam Houston State University Adaptive PE
Team RWB (Red White & Blue)
The Woodlands Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

As well as the following high school organizations who unselfishly gave of their time for the Special Olympics :

College Park Cavaliers Cheerleaders
The National Honor Society of Oak Ridge High School
Oak Ridge Student Council
Oak Ridge Yearbook Staff
Oak Ridge PO KAPPA
Oak Ridge Athletic Programs & Students: Football, Track & Field, Soccer, & Swimming

“We have so many wonderful volunteer organizations and we’re so appreciative,” said President, Callison, “but the Oak Ridge football team are the unsung heroes. They do so much, and will do anything to make this a success. They go above and beyond what is expected.”

Key Club International is the high school organization sponsored by Kiwanis International. Key Clubs assist Kiwanis in carrying out its mission to serve the children of the world. The Key Clubs who performed this mission admirably on Saturday were (alphabetically):

Carl Wunsche Sr. High School
College Park High School
Covenant Christian High School
Klein Collins High School
Klein High School
Oak Ridge High School
The Woodlands High School
and American Heritage Girls Troop, TX 1230

A special vote of thanks for the dynamic duos from the National Charity League who always avail themselves for the Special Olympics. The purpose of the mother-daughter teams of the NCL is to make a positive impact on the lives of people in their community. Their mission statement is to ‘foster mother-daughter relationships in a philanthropic organization committed to community service, leadership development and cultural experiences.’ Those who participated in the Special Olympics included: National Charity Roundtable, National Charity League Chapter, Bluebonnet Chapter, Magnolia Chapter, Montgomery Chapter, Texas Laurels Chapter, and The Woodlands Chapter.

Numerous individuals in the community also dropped by to volunteer, and whose donation of their time was greatly appreciated.

“We can always use volunteers,” said Special Olympics co-chair, Royce Brooks. “We never turn volunteers away,” he added, speaking for the co-chair committee which also included: Ron Atkinson, Deanie Diamond, and Tom Quinn.

See the 2016 Special Olympics at-a-glance by viewing the photo gallery.

Kiwanis is a global organization of volunteers dedicated to changing the world one child and one community at a time. The Woodlands Kiwanis Club meets every Thursday morning from 7-8:00 a.m., at The Woodlands Community Center. For more information visit the Woodlands Kiwanis website.

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