It's snowing

It's snowing...and you know what that means. It's time to get ready to jump in the ocean. The forms are ready and available on our web site (www.specialolympicsmaine.org) for the 20th annual Lobster Dip to be held January 1st at Noon (sharp) in front of the Brunswick hotel at Old Orchard Beach. Start collecting your money now and plan to join us for something really "cool" on New Years day. How many people can actually say they went swimming in the ocean in January? Okay, actually close to 400 people but who's counting. Wouldn't you like to be one of them? If you can't get the forms online (which doesn't really make sense since you are reading this blog on line) you can call our state office at 879-0489 and we will get you all set up. A great way to collect money for the dip is to set up a page at Firstgiving.com. My 8 year old set up his own page in a matter of minutes and raised over $700 last year so I know you can do it.

So, a couple weeks ago our office got together with all of the Area Managers and members of the SOME BOD and we talked about many new and exciting ideas on ways to improve our program. Our staff has already met a couple of times to make these things happen. One of our plans is to begin an e-newsletter so if you want to be on that mailing list please call the office and let Ian know. We are also planning to re-vamp our web site so that it will include lot's of great information. Let me know if you have any other great ideas and I will pass them on to the staff.

Can you beleive how close Christmas is? I am already in a panic. If you are planning to do any online shopping, and I know you are, please do it through charityblast.com. We get donations from the store, you will most likely get a discount, and everybody wins.

Finally, as you may have heard, Special Olympics is launching a new campaign. BE A FAN. Keep your eyes open for more information on how to incorporate this slogan in to your area.

That's all for today. 20+ people coming for Thanksgiving and it is now 4PM so I am off to clean and cook. Take care and by the way...I am extremely thankful for each and every one of you.

Is anyone out there?

Good Morning. It's October! As a matter of fact it's already the end of October. My life is just one big blur of work and kids and hockey images. Yes, hockey season is well under way which means that I do not have one free minute...literally. My husband Frank and I are also currently running our second marriage course at our Church so things are certainly hectic.

So, is anybody out there. Is there even one person who is reading this? So much has happened since I last posted. The biggest news of course is the World Games in China. Our athletes have returned home after over two weeks in Shanghai and they did an outstanding job. We are all very proud of them. They each placed within the top five in each of their events and even brought home a couple of bronze and silver and even gold medals. Outstanding. This is a picture of our Equestrian athlete Jacuelyn Guisley getting one of her awards. Every athlete also received one of those adorable panda bears.

In addition to the competition our athletes also had the chance to learn a lot about the culture. They even got to go in to a home of a Chinese family and learned to make dumplings. If you check out the Team USA web site, you can read all of the daily highlights and also look up hundreds, and hundreds of photos. http://www.specialolympicsteamusa.org/ Above, I have posted a photo of our aquatics athlete Keith Draper hanging out with friends before a competition.

Did you know that if you want to have more than one child in China, you have to pay for it? I also learned from our team that unless a building is more than 7 stories high, there are no elevators. Driving is like a free-for-all...just find an empty spot and go and entire families ride on a motorcycle, at once!

Kala Emery, seen above with President Bush, competed in Track and Field events and Robin Sibley was our Bocce Player. Everyone had a great time and did a great job. Yay Maine!!!

BTW...One of our long time Area Managers, Dot Graves of Bangor, won a hometown hero award for her dedication to SOME! Way to go Dot!

That's it for today. Feel free to leave comments...nice ones anyway! Do you have a short SOME story or cool photo you would like to share...let me know and I'll try to post them. LBIRD@maine.rr.com

6 years ago today

I know this is a Special Olympics blog but I just couldn't ignore the significance of the day... 6 years have gone by since that fateful day in NY, PA and Washington. Certainly an event that changed the lives of every American.
So, where were you when it happened and what were you thinking? I was actually on my way to get an x-ray when I heard that the first plane had crashed. I remember getting to the DRs office and telling the technician about it. "Did you hear that some guy crashed his plane in to the World Trade Center?" Little did I know. By the time I got in the car to head home, our Nation was under attack and I was going on with my merry life. I called my mom to tell her about my appointment and her voice sounded so strange. "what's wrong?" I asked. She proceeded to tell me everything and I stepped on the gas to get home to my two year old as quickly as possible. I felt panicked and confused. I was glued to television. I remember calling my husband who was working in NH and begging him to come home. I also remember right in the middle of all of it thinking, OMG we need milk, and rushing to the store to be sure we had everything we needed. I don't know what I thought was going to happen but I knew I was going to be prepared.
Funny what people do. Now, six years ago I still clearly remember all of the details of that day and all of the emotions. I pray that we never have another day like that one. That day changed the lives of all of us. Never forget. God Bless America.

September already?

How on earth did that happen? I swear the summers get shorter every year. I hope all of you had an awesome time and had a chance to enjoy the warm weather, spend time with family and friends, and rest up for all of the exciting Special Olympics events that are coming.
It's always funny to me that there isn't some sort of New Years Eve celebration for September. It always feels like a new year. Kids are starting a new year at school, and Special Olympics picks up again at full speed with tons of cool things to do. September has been a little sad for me so far because my baby has gone off to Kindergarten. He is such a big boy now. My 8 year old has also entered a new school, "where the bigger kids go", he says. Time sure does fly.

Anyway, tonight is the final night for our sailing program. What a blast everyone had. If you haven't checked out the program you really should. It runs on Monday nights all summer and you would not beleive the accomplishments these athletes have made. Incredibly exciting.

Camp is also wrapping up and Ian will soon be returning to the office. I have also returned to the office from 9-11 each day which is very exciting after nine years of working at home full time. The only problem was that after 9 years of working at home I had accumulated a lot of pairs of pajammas and not many work clothes. My husband wasn't thrilled when I told him I also needed to go "school shopping"!

Mark is busy right now on golf events...Individual skills on the 8th in Skowhegan, Unified tournament on the 12th in Madison, and Individual 9 hole on the 22nd in Auburn.

September also means that soccer is just around the corner as well as our annual state equestrian competition in Skowhegan on the September 29th.

And of course, plans are already underway for Winter Games!

One of the most exciting events this month is the world games in China! I will post a seperate blog on that with lots of cool details.
I really just wanted to check in. Have a great week.

Irving Rocks!!!

Hey everyone. Sorry for the delay. I have been waiting for the results from our event at Irvings so that I can share them with everyone. Well, we had a record breaking year and raised $143,000!!!!! I am beyond excited with this news. As many of you know, in addition to the actual gas pumping event, Irving employees sold clings for the entire month prior to Serve and Protect. I was shocked to hear that there were stores in Maine that sold over 4,000 clings. As a matter of fact, the Biddeford store sold over 7000!!!!!! That is amazing. Irving employees really went above and beyond the call of duty with their efforts. Many of them came up with some clever gimicks in their stores and many extra fund raising efforts. The other two incredible parts to this story are the Maine Law Enforcement members and the SOME athletes and coaches who went to each location to help with the fundraising. Many even used vacation time to participate. A huge thank you to everyone who helped make this event such a huge success and a special thank you to Officer Chris Gardner and Irving Rep Kyle Burrell who worked so hard to pull everything together. What an exciting year! I am already hearing from people on ideas that they have for next year.

On another note, just because it's summer don't think that there is nothing going on in the world of Special Olympics. Our sailing program in Portland is well underway, golf is taking place, and next week will be the annual ALL STAR SOCCER TOURNAMENT to benefit SOME. Maine's top high school soccer graduates will be playing on Tuesday July 31st at Westbrook High School. Women's games are at 6 and Men's at 8. Feel free to join us in Westbrook to watch an awesome night of soccer competition. You can call Mark Capano at 879-0489 for more info.

Hey, speaking of Mark...last week he, along with our Maine Team USA athletes and coaches, traveled to Tennessee for a training camp for the upcoming world games in China. They had an awesome trip and feel more ready than ever to compete at this World Class event. Rockland Police Officer Troy Peasely and SOME athlete Chris Oster have both been selected to run in the LETR Final Leg for the two weeks preceding the games. What an exciting time it is for all of us.

Don't forget that we still have Harley raffle tickets and very cool torch run t-shirts that have been compressed in to the shape of a torch, for sale. Tickets are $20 each and t-shirts are $10. Give me a call at 839-5578 to purchase yours.

I guess that is all for today. I am heading out for vacation in a couple of days to go camping with the family. Should be fun. Hope for great weather.

Orono was Awesome!!!

Summer Games were great! I think I can speak for just about everyone and say that we all had a fabulous time. The weather was perfect, the people were terrific, and the athletes were, as always, amazing.
I got to go up on Thursday night this year...although I got there very late because I drove up with the Harley in tow for our raffle. (Tickets are only $20 each and only 2500 have been printed. See Karl Frank or your local Torch Runner for a ticket.) The bike was to be picked up in Freeport but I was practicing for Opening Ceremonies and drove all the way to Brunswick before I realized it. Oops! Then I realized how much the bike cost and how much money it meant for our program and ended up going about 45 all the way to Orono. Very scary. By the way, be careful on the road from Newport to Orono. I saw at least 20 deer.
Anyway, I brought my tv up this year so that I could watch all of the coverage of our games. Aside from my very scary lion looking hairdo, I was very pleased with all of the stories about us. They covered everything from the torch run to the games to the volunteers and more.
Friday was busy with registration. So many of the coaches were so nicely organized with their binders and portfolios. They made our job quick and easy. Then of course there were the, "what, you never sent me that paper", folks. It all made for a very interesting day. The part I really loved was being able to say hi to so many coaches, volunteers and athletes who I hadn't seen since winter games.

I thought the parade was great this year. It had sooo many units! The athletes loved it. The flyover was so cool and very special. What an honor. The families/LETR reception was very nice and it was a great opportunity to really catch up with the moms and dads and officers who do so much to help our athletes. Those little frosted brownies are addicting!!!!

Saturday was just awesome. I always get to organize the 11 and under tent. Those little guys are so cute and excited about the games. Many of them were there for the very first time and were just full of enthusiasm. I hope I never get fired from that job because I love it. I did mange to sneak over to the 12-15 year old tent and couldn't believe how much some of my little ones had grown. I am so old.
I got to vist Olympic Town a few times and what fun that was. Everyone was having a ball and I took a bunch of pictures. I hope that we are able to offer that again next year. Also, very cool was the Healthy Athletes programs. One of my 8 year olds came back after lunch with a brand new pair of glasses. He was so proud of them and looked so handsome. No one knew that he had an eye condition that he probably had for years. He kept looking down at the ground and talking about how nice it was that he didn't stumble all the way to the tent. He could not wait to do his next race and came back with a gold medal which he credited to his new eyewear. What amazing people they all are to donate their time and skills to our athletes.
The dinner was good, the dance rocked and Sunday was very nice with some AMAZING mile run competitions. Wow! A few surprise finishes made it all very exciting.
So, a great time was had by all, but remember in Special Olympics there is no off season, so it's back to work, back to training, and back to getting ready for July's Day on the Links, the All Star Soccer tournaments, Family Day at Camp and of course World Games in China. The excitement never ends.

Only 3 hours left and the clothes are still in the dryer

I have not packed a single item! Not to fear, I still have 3 hours before I head to Orono. Yikes. I just wanted to stop by real quick with some very exciting news. This is so late breaking that those of you reading this are probably going to find out before the actual person finds out. (No, it's not the news that Paris Hilton got to go home early from jail, but hey, what is up with that anyway?) The news is that several months ago I sent in a nomination for a Maine athlete to participate in the Final Leg of the Torch Run in China for the World Games. I nominate people every year and we NEVER get picked. Anyway, this just in...Chris Oster, an athlete from MAINE, has been selected to run in the final leg. He will be going to China two weeks before the games and will run along with the officers. Only 11 athletes in the world were chosen and only 6 are from the US. This is awesome and I am beyond excited about it.

Speaking of the torch run, I love the above photo of the Flame of Hope being carried in at our Opening Ceremonies. This year we have three athletes carrying in the torch along with officer Troy Peasely of Rockland who is our Final Leg runner for China.

Okay, I really need to pack, send one last press reminder, pick up t-shirts and the Harley and head to Orono. What a gorgeous day. Can't wait to see everyone. Take care and safe travels.

New to blogging, in time for Summer Games

Hello to all! Welcome to my very first blog. I have been trying to come up with new and innovative ways to communicate with everyone in Special Olympics land and figured this might be interesting and fun. Let me know what you think. My plan is to let you know about all of the cool things going on at SOME and to give you reviews of things as they happen. I also hope to share some of the funny and touching stories from years past. In addition, I will let you in on some of the neat things I am reading or learning about that pertain to SO.

So, the guys have all left the office and are headed to Orono for our 37th annual state summer games. The games begin Friday June 8th and run through Sunday June 10th. Let's pray for great weather and if we can't get that let's pray for great attitudes! (Mine included) We have over 1300 athletes registered for the games in addition to the hundreds of family members and volunteers planning to attend. I am really excited to see everyone. For many years now I have been in charge of the 11 and under tent. I really enjoy doing this and especially love seeing the little ones who are there for the first time. I also enjoy being able to visit the other age groups to see the athletes I knew as children. It is so awesome to see how far they have come and how much they have grown. After fifteen years I am finally bringing a chair. It takes me a while but I do catch on eventually.
I talked to the band on Monday, (Shake, Rattle, and Roll with Malinda Liberty) and they are really looking forward to seeing you guys again. They absolutely love coming to the games and give us an awesome deal!
I am excited about the banquet. I think it is so cool that we can be part of Maine's largest sit down dinner. I love seeing all of the great outfits and how quickly everyone eats in hopes of getting to the dance sooner.
I am a little sad that my guys won't be there this year. Now that they are 8 and 4 they have extremely busy schedules that inlcude lot's of baseball, hockey, and birthday parties. I am usually so busy at Orono however that I probably wouldn't get to see them much anyway. Maybe next year.
Mickey is coming! I know many people will be very glad to see him. Did you know that he lives in my basement? How cool is that?

In addition to the games, another really cool event is already taking place. The annual Law Enforcement Torch Run started yesterday in South Berwick. Over 640 members of Maine Law Enforcement will be running down Maine roads through Friday, carrying our Flame of Hope. The run will end at our Opening Ceremonies Friday night after the parade. If you see them running through your town be sure to toot your horn, or give them a big thank you. They raise thousands of dollars for SOME every year and also spread the word about our program. Many of them will be on hand this weekend running events and handing out awards.

Hey, thanks to everyone who participated in last weekends To Serve and Protect event at Irvings. I haven't heard the totals yet but did hear some great stories about the day. I'll keep you posted.

Please remenber that I am always looking for clear photos of our events and athletes, and also great stories to share. Please email me any time with these. I guess that is all for now. I really need to get one more press release out before the weekend. Can't wait to see everyone in Orono! Take care and don't forget your sunscreen.