The Fayette County Special Olympics program will now be under the direction of a new coordinator who recently promoted two upcoming events.
“First of all I would like to say that I am humbled to have been given the opportunity to be the new Special Olympics coordinator for Fayette County,” Caleb McKinney, who took over the program as coordinator on Jan. 27, said. “I have been involved with the Dragons for five years now as a volunteer and Tim Stewart has done a great job with the program up to this point. The Dragons have really made a name for themselves the last few years. Our adult basketball team has won a Division II State Basketball Championship. Our school age basketball team has made it to the Final Four two years in a row but unfortunately came up short placing third both times, and our flag football team has won back to back state championships the last two years.”
McKinney said as the new coordinator his goal is to keep the program going in the right direction and build off of its successes from the last few years. He said they are currently looking into the possibility of adding in the sport of Bocce this year to go along with the sports already offered, including flag football, basketball, softball, cheerleading as well as track and field.
Bocce, according to Wikipedia.org, is closely related to British bowls and French pétanque, all having developed from games played in the Roman Empire. Bocce is a mixture of several ball type games such as bowling, but played on a field and also has elements of curling where a ball should be aimed on a certain spot on the field, and teams work to get close to the spot. The sport dates back to 5,000 BC.
“With all these sports we offer, it of course costs money to provide uniforms and pay for tournaments and officials and all the other expenses that go along with athletics, so we are lucky to be able to host two fundraisers in the month of March,” McKinney said.
The first fundraising event is the Dwight Turner Spaghetti Dinner which will be held Saturday, March 14 from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Fayette County Commission on Aging. The price of the event is $7 and includes spaghetti and meatballs, bread sticks, salad, dessert and a drink. There will also be a silent auction and raffle held and all proceeds will benefit the Fayette County Dragons.
The second fundraiser is on Wednesday, March 18 when the Fayette County Dragons basketball team will take on the Guns-N-Hoses (local first responders). The event will be held at the Washington Sr. High Gymnasium with tip-off scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Cost of admission is $3 and there will also be a 50/50 raffle and concessions. This year the first game of the night will be between the City First Responders and the County First Responders.
“Of course we are always seeking donations and we are a 501(c)3 non profit, so if you or somebody you know would like to donate to Fayette County Special Olympics, I can be reached at 740-335-7453 at extension 221 or by email at [email protected],” McKinney said. “I am looking forward to a great first year as the Special Olympics coordinator for Fayette County and as always, Go Dragons!”
The information in this article was provided by Fayette County Special Olympics Coordinator Caleb McKinney. Stay with the Record-Herald for more coverage of these events in a future edition of the paper and online at www.recordherald.com.
Reach Martin Graham at (740) 313-0351 or on Twitter @MartiTheNewsGuy.
