Suiting up

Trish Krawec wanted to be a part of the Special Olympics Ontario Winter Games, so volunteering for the upcoming event was a no brainer.

Hundreds of volunteers flocked to the Kinsemen Hall on James Street for their information kits Saturday in preparation of the upcoming games. The kits included a red shirt and an information package.

Krawec moved to Thunder Bay from Hamilton, Ont., 30-years ago. She picked up her kit early Saturday morning. As an insurance broker, Krawec said she isn’t a stranger to volunteering and often helped at curling events.

"I’ve always volunteered in Thunder Bay," Krawec said. "Thunder Bay has got a big heart and I just like giving back to the community. It is a good thing to do."

With the Games scheduled to begin next week, Krawec admitted she felt a little nervous. She volunteered to enter the results for the speed skating competition.

"I’ve never done anything like speed skating before," she said. "I’ve done curling events but I thought speed skating would be a neat experience so I’m excited and a little nervous."

For Doug Gelmich, the upcoming events will mark the first time that he has gone to the Games as a volunteer. Gelmich coached curling at the Special Olympics for 14 years, and said he couldn’t be the curling venue manager and coach at the same time.

But he still wanted to participate.

He said it was good to change his role and share his experiences with other volunteers.

"It’s good because I’ve been to and seen how other facilities have run this event,"
Gelmich said. "Already we’ve been doing conference calls with the 14 coaches that are coming here and they come to me for answers already because we’ve been there."

Confederation College also held an information kit notice on Wednesday. Cindy Orr, volunteer chair for the Ontario Winter Special Olympics, said about 500 volunteers came that day and about 250 more volunteers were still expected to arrive Saturday.

"We’re all working very hard behind the scenes," Orr said. "It’s been a year in the making and we’re really excited to bring the games to Thunder Bay. Volunteerism in Thunder Bay is strong. We just had a tremendous and overwhelming response from our community. Any kind of activity like this of this magnitude could not survive with volunteers. We are very thankful for them."

The Games will begin on Thursday, Jan. 20 with the torch run at 7:45p.m. from Memorial Ave to Thunder Bay Community Auditorium.