Special Olympics exceeds expectations

If they handed out medals to hosts, the Ridgetown community would have been awarded a platinum – because a gold medal wouldn’t be good enough.

Visitors had nothing but positive things to say about the friendly and helpful people they encountered during their time in town for last week’s Special Olympics Ontario School Championship Games.

“Just amazing, they’ve put on such a show here, and the kids love it; they’re having a fantastic time,” said Charles Esau, teacher and coach of the Sudbury St. Charles College Cardinals basketball team, in between games last Wednesday afternoon at the University of Guelph Ridgetown Campus.

Esau said his students were especially impressed with the escort by the Chatham-Kent Police when they arrived in town.

“They thought that was really fun, really cool.”

Parents of participants from elsewhere in Chatham-Kent were also impressed with the hospitality they experienced in Ridgetown.

“Just amazing, it was a huge undertaking from a volunteer standpoint, but everyone has done a really excellent job in hosting and delivering a successful event,” said Dan Arbour of Pain Court, whose son Luc played for the Ursuline Lancers basketball team. “It’s nice to see the surrounding communities host these kinds of events and not always have them downtown Chatham.”

“And it was nice to see the Ridgetown college and the high school and see how the whole community has come together,” Arbour said.

The Lancers didn’t win a game, but you would never know it by the smiles on their faces.

“It was fantastic to see everyone trying; it didn’t matter what the score was, they just kept going and going,” said Jeff Teeuwen, Life Skills teacher and coach of the Lancers’ basketball team.

Teeuwen said the kids “were just ecstatic” getting to participate in the opening ceremonies and having the opportunity to play in front of fans.

“Most of the time, these kids don’t get a chance to show everyone what they can do, but this is great for them to get a chance to shoot a basket and have everyone cheer them on,” Teeuwen said.

Looking around the basketball courts in the Rudy D. Brown building and Ridgetown District High School and at the outdoor bocceball courts, seeing the sea of yellow shirts worn by the army of local volunteers was incredible.

“The Ridgetown community has been great, we’ve got lots of volunteers ... just look at all the shirts,” said East Kent Councillor John Wright, a volunteer himself.

Wright said volunteer meetings hosted by CKPS Cst. Lisa Rodger, leading up to the games, paid off.

“It’s very well organized; we’ve had no hiccups,” he said. “Businesses chipped in, Tim Hortons showed up with beverages and food for everyone for free... they weren’t asked, they just showed up.”

“This has been good for the town; the merchants couldn’t believe how many people were uptown, the restaurants have been busy, and it’s been quite the community event,” Wright said.

Mackenzie Rehill and Kate Bowen, who work in records at the CKPS, were site hosts in Ridgetown and were amazed by the town’s support.

Rehill, however, was not surprised.

“Absolutely not,” she said with a smile.

“I was born and raised here; I went to elementary (St. Michael) and high school here. This is such a great community, and it’s very heartwarming to see our community come together for something so amazing,” Rehill said.

Bowen said all of the Ridgetown volunteers have been phenomenal.

“We wouldn’t be able to run this without them; we can’t thank them enough,” said Bowen.

If they had any problem, it was finding enough work for all of the volunteers since there was never a shortage of help.

“Everyone was so flexible, wherever we needed them, they were there,” Bowen said. “And they constantly asked what they can do to help out more.”

CKPS Sgt. Jason Herder, co-chair of the Student Games with Cst. Rodger could only shake his head and smile at what he saw when he visited the Ridgetown site on Wednesday.

“I was just blown away, seeing how they ended up putting it all together,” Herder said.

“If it wasn’t for these volunteers who stepped up, we couldn’t do this, Herder said. “Everyone came in droves to make sure this event went as successful as it was.”

While bocce and basketball were played in town, St. Clair College Thames Campus hosted floorball and soccer, while Chatham-Kent Secondary School hosted track and field.

The majority of out-of-town athletes arrived in town on Monday, with over 250 staying in the Ridgetown College dorms. Others were housed at St. Clair College dorms, hotels in Chatham, and as far away as Windsor.

The Opening Ceremonies were held Tuesday evening following the day’s games, with the Closing Ceremonies on Wednesday night – both at the Bradley Centre – followed by a dance for the athletes.

The CKPS provided police escorts for the buses to and from Ridgetown and Chatham, and the LaSalle Police escorted the athletes staying in Windsor on their trips to Chatham.

“It’s just those little things that show just how like-minded police and law enforcement officials across the province all have towards the Special Olympics,” Herder said. “It’s dear to our hearts.”

It’s very dear to Herder, whose later father, Rob Herder, along with the late Mike Currie, organized the Special Olympics Games the last time they were in Chatham in 1997. The Games were hosted by the Chatham Police Force the year before amalgamation and the birth of the Chatham-Kent Police Service.

The Chatham-Kent Special Olympics program sends athletes annually to competitions across Ontario.

The local organizers and athletes were committed to putting on a great show in their first chance to host provincial games in 27 years.

“We wanted to pull out all the stops and give these athletes an experience they would never forget; I think we did that,” Herder said. “There were some stressful days, I’m not going to lie, but at the end of each night, you’re like, ‘this was worth every single second that we planned.”

“Everything far exceeded our expectations, and that’s because of the tremendous support of our volunteers and everyone in the community who stepped up,” Herder said.

Next up for the CKPS and local Special Olympics committee are the annual Torch Ride and Torch Runs, which will be held later this summer to raise funds for local athletes to participate in regional and provincial games.

Michael Bennett, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Ridgetown Independent News