Special Olympics Get Warm
Huntington Welcome
The Special Olympics offers real competition for real athletes. If anyone doubts that, they should have been at Huntington High School last Sunday.
The Long Island Special Olympics Spring Games drew 460 athletes and thousands of fans and volunteers for a daylong celebration of sport and fun. A festive opening ceremony included the Blue Devil band playing Olympic themed-music as the athletes and coaches processed into Blue Devil Stadium.
State Senators Carl Marcellino and John Flanagan, Assemblyman James Conte, Town Council members Susan Berland and Glenda Jackson, State Supreme Court Justice W. Gerard Asher, Huntington Superintendent John J. Finello and School Board President Bill Dwyer were on hand for the opening ceremonies.
The athletes came to compete and they went all out in a push for coveted gold, silver and bronze medals. An Olympic village was erected by Huntington School District volunteers on the adjacent athletic fields. Tents dotted the landscape with children and adults of all ages staffing an extensive variety of activity stations.
Hundreds of volunteers turned out to help make this one of the best Spring Games ever. Retired Huntington School District physical education teacher Steve Davis served as the event's coordinator, with a large assist from Georgia D. McCarthy, district director of physical education, health and interscholastic athletics. Dozens of district teachers and an army of students assumed every job imaginable to help insure a smooth running operation.
PTA and Booster Club members turned out en masse near the crack of dawn to lend a hand, setting up food and refreshment stations to feed the hungry volunteers and athletes.
The free lunches for the athletes and coaches were donated by Clever Devices, Valero, the Greenhill and Iarrbino families and the Huntington Booster Club. Southdown Supermarket donated $70 for ham and turkey products. Food leftover from the event was donated to a local soup kitchen, according to Booster Club President Barbara Cutrone.
"It was a great day for the athletes," Mrs. McCarthy said. "They competed with enthusiasm and their desire to be the best they could be was refreshing. Seeing the smiles on their faces made all the work worthwhile."
Huntington School District musicians put on stunning performances in the Olympic village from the bed of a large town truck that was brought to the site. The high school jazz ensemble performed a professional quality concert, including a sensational saxophone solo by senior Mikah Feldman-Stein.
"We cannot thank the volunteers enough for making this such a successful event," Mrs. McCarthy said. "We're looking forward to hosting it again in the future."