Ready to roll

It’s fitting that Thursday opening ceremonies for the Special Olympics Ontario Winter Games fell on the 50th anniversary of former U.S. president John F. Kennedy’s inauguration.

The idea for special Olympics was hatched by Kennedy’s brother-in-law, Sargent Shriver, who died earlier this week as final preparations were being made for the four-day Thunder Bay event, which Levesque helped kick off with the lighting of the ceremonial torch.

It was a night filled with pomp and ceremony, with plenty of glitz and glamour to go around, to the delight of the 400-plus athletes and coaches who filled the Thunder Bay Community Auditorium and were treated to more than two hours of dance and song.

Levesque, the city’s deputy police chief and chairman of the provincial Games, said the Special Olympics movement has touched and changed people’s lives around the world.

As a police officer, he said he’s seen some of the most desperate and worst aspects of human nature – greed, violence and hatred.

It’s why they’ve taken the Special Olympics up as a cause close to their hearts, he said.

“It stands in stark contrast to what our daily experience can be at times,” Levesque said. “The Games, like the movement itself, is a time to witness the very best of human nature – its power, its grace and its courage.”

He added later the Games could have a lasting impact on the city, and praised the 750 volunteers who have stepped up to ensure they happen, the first time they’ve been held in Northwestern Ontario.

“These volunteers also believe that sport has the ability to not only bring enormous positive change to those with intellectual disabilities, but to change an entire community,” he said. “With a clear sense of community and giving, our Games organizing committee and all the volunteers have worked tirelessly to put these games together and to leave a lasting legacy in our community.”

Frank Hayden, the founding father of Special Olympics in Canada, the man behind the first national games held more than four decades ago in 1969, said he was impressed at what he’s seen since arriving in the city.

“What we have here tonight is exactly what I had in mind – the athletes of course and the coaches – but all of us in the whole community, everybody together celebrating the power of sport, the joy of sport. And I want to say that I don’t think it’s going to be done any better than it will be in Thunder Bay in the next few days,” he said, rallying volunteers and athletes alike.

He urged the participants, who have come from across Ontario and even Manitoba – the first time an out-of-province contingent has been invited to the provincial Games –to compete hard and do their very best.

But winning isn’t everything, he said.

“It’s though your personal effort and achieving your personal best, that’s where the real joy of sport comes. And that’s how you’ll get joy and happiness from your competition, regardless of the medals,” Hayden said.

Among the entertainers who graced the stages were the Thunder Mountain Singers, a Fort William Historical Park re-enactment group, fiddlers Pierre Schreyer and Olivia Korkola and singer Shy-Anne Hovorka.

The Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra was also on hand providing musical interludes throughout the evening, and joined in the finale, a tribute to Queen’s We Will Rock You and We Are the Champions.

Levesque accepted the torch from the Law Enforcement Torch Run, a group of 150 police officers from around the province, a moment that drew the second-loudest applause of the night, second only to the arrival of the team from Region 8, a group that included Thunder Bay’s 14 participants. 

Echoing the words to come from Hayden, Levesque said he’s looking forward to the competiton, but win or lose, it’s all about having fun, he said, offering these words of encouragement to the athletes.

“Despite the outcome and where you place in your event, you are all heroes. Best of luck to all of you.”

Organizers announced there will be a delay on Friday for the outdoor events, due to forecast of cold temperatures. Start times will be pushed back at Kamview at least an hour, with a decision being made in the morning for alpine skiing being held at Mount Baldy Ski Area.