Special Olympics

It’s Wednesday, January 28th and we have a ton of snow outside… In fact, all Johnson County schools have been closed and I’m thinking about breaking in my new sled this afternoon. I still think it is funny that Sarah got me a sled for Christmas this year; she knows how much I love snow.
This past Sunday, Sarah and I with seven youth ventured to Paoli Peaks (2 hours south) to help volunteer for the 2009 Winter Special Olympics. This is the second year Mt. Auburn Youth have been involved and it seemed like everyone had a terrific experience. We lodged at the exquisite Midwest Inn and like last year, were the only guests. One room was too hot, the other too cold and all the youth continued to confirm their doubts that we would survive the night… (They think an axe murderer lurks nearby) Despite their assurances of horrific death, everyone survived the night unscathed.
We began the evening with dinner at Chicago’s Pizza in French Lick and then went to the Athlete’s Ball in the French Lick Hotel. While there, I was reminded yet again of why I love chaperoning this event. Athletes of all ages were out on the dance floor, cutting a rug with moves seldom seen by much of the population. Humility was scarce, but in its place, laughter and friendship were in abundance. Elvis songs like Love Me Tender were karaoked with originality, heart and enthusiasm and many of us danced with the athletes who were brave enough to ask.
The athletes however were subjected to the dances and contortions performed by the boys of Mt. Auburn… Dances like the Lawnmower, school bus, shopping cart and sprinkler were among the many of the performances. My favorite was a somewhat disturbing number by Sean Peters and Alex Hutton, which must have been a dance move of previous study.
Monday morning came cold and early. We arrived at the lodge at 7:20am after breakfast and little coffee. We prepared the “start & finish” flags which was followed by an instructional meeting at 8:30am. The athletes arrived on the snow around 9:30 and we each found an athlete to assist.
The athletes range from first time skiers to borderline professional. Our jobs at first were to simply encourage and assist in any way possible, mostly just keeping them on their feet and going straight. If the athlete accomplished this, they moved on to snowplowing, followed by turning. This took about 2 hours at which point, most everyone was cold and ready for lunch.
Lunch kicked off with “Happy Birthday” sung in Texas Roadhouse fashion to Joy Atzinger who was celebrating her 14th birthday. We didn’t have a cake, but cookies seemed to be an acceptable replacement.
By 2:00pm we began the “Time Trials”, in which the athletes competed for the best time in various events according to skill level. This seemed to go much faster than last year…
We finished up around 3:45pm and were able to ski for a couple of hours at a discounted price. Amanda and Scott Musgrave as well as myself attempted snowboarding for the first time and I must say, It’s harder than it looks. After about half an hour of falling over and the hill beginning to really do a number on my back, I started to get the hang of it. First time skiers included Alex Hutton, Joy Atzinger, Connor Edwards and Scott Musgrave.
Everyone lived!