LOCAL

Special Olympics: Dutchess prepares for snowier second year as winter games host

Jack Howland, Poughkeepsie Journal
Athletes step off of buses and head for the Poughkeepsie Grand Hotel hours before the opening ceremony of the Special Olympics New York Winter Games, held at the Mid-Hudson Civic Center in the City of Poughkeepsie.

As snow fell last week, slowly blanketing the Hudson Valley inch over inch, Dutchess Tourism President and CEO Mary Kay Vrba couldn’t help but smile. 

All that white fluff, the co-chair of the 2017 Special Olympics New York State Winter Games said, would help make this weekend’s event a success, and keep two of its biggest competitions in Dutchess County.

More than 900 athletes from across New York are expected to take part in the annual event on Saturday, which for the second consecutive year will be held in the Hudson Valley. The event kicked off on Friday night with an opening ceremony at the Mid-Hudson Civic Center.

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PREPARATION: Special Olympians prepare for Dutchess winter games

The games include five different sports being contested at four venues in Dutchess, Orange and Sullivan counties.

More than 2,000 people have signed up as volunteers, according to Jeanine Agnolet, chairperson of marketing and public relations for the games. There were nearly 3,000 volunteers in 2016, she said.

Though organizers regard last year’s games — the first to be hosted in the Hudson Valley — as a success, a lack of snow in the days leading up to the event forced late changes to the planned schedule. Instead of holding snowshoeing and cross-country skiing at Bowdoin Park in Wappingers Falls, the events were moved to Holiday Mountain Ski Area in Monticello, Sullivan County, which produces its own snow. 

Vrba said this year’s layer of snow covering Bowdoin Park is one positive change of many positive changes for 2017, though she didn’t wish to divulge them all.

“There are a couple of surprises,” she said with an air of mystery in her voice. “We’re just so happy about the second year.”

Special Olympics, founded in 1968, is an international organization that promotes "understanding, acceptance and inclusion" through its year-round athletic competitions, according to its website. Special Olympics New York was founded in 1969, and the first summer games were held in Rochester in 1970.  

Linda Rodrian, marketing assistant at the Poughkeepsie Galleria, sets up water bottles underneath chairs for the opening ceremony of the Special Olympics New York Winter Games at the Mid-Hudson Civic Center in the City of Poughkeepsie.

To be eligible to participate, athletes have to be at least 6 years old and identified as meeting the Special Olympics' list of approved conditions by an agency or professional, according to the organization’s website.

Rochester will next host the winter games in 2018 and 2019. 

The event was slated to begin 8 p.m. Friday with the opening ceremony, in which athletes and coaches from nine teams, divided by region, circle a track in the Mid-Hudson Civic Center. The athletes were also slated to recite the Special Olympics’ pledge: “Let me win. But if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt.”

On Saturday, all five events are planned to start in the morning: floor hockey, 8:30 a.m. inside a hangar at Stewart Air National Guard in Newburgh; figure skating, 9:30 a.m. at McCann Ice Arena in the Mid-Hudson Civic Center; cross-country skiing, 9:30 a.m. at Bowdoin Park; snowshoeing, 9:45 a.m. at Bowdoin Park; and alpine skiing, 10 a.m. at Holiday Mountain Ski Area in Monticello.

The closing ceremonies will then bring the event to a close 6:30 p.m. Saturday in the Mid-Hudson Civic Center. Although the public is allowed to attend, she said it primarily serves as a celebration and dance party for athletes. 

Agnolet, who joined the Special Olympics ahead of last year’s winter games, said though the games are about inclusivity and community, competing athletes "want to be taken seriously" and would be "here to win."

That's how Ann Hertel, 48, a cross-country skier, was feeling last month. The Town of Poughkeepsie resident, who won first and second in her races last year, told the Journal she would be going for the gold.

Her training consisted of going to parks to do trails, "just to keep myself motivated and keep myself going and get the cold air," she said.

Jack Howland: jhowland@poughkeepsiejournal.com, 845-437-4870, Twitter: @jhowl04 

Andrew Marshall, left, an athlete from Utica, walks in to the Poughkeepsie Grand Hotel with his coach Sue Carpenter, right, before the opening ceremony of the Special Olympics New York Winter Games, held at the Mid-Hudson Civic Center in the City of Poughkeepsie.

Special Olympics New York Winter Games

When: Saturday

Floor hockey

When: 8:30 a.m.

Where: Stewart Air National Guard, Newburgh

Figure skating

When: 9:30 a.m.

Where: McCann Ice Arena in the Mid-Hudson Civic Center, City of Poughkeepsie

Cross-country skiing

When: 9:30 a.m.

Where: Bowdoin Park, Wappingers Falls

Snowshoeing

When: 9:45 a.m.

Where: Bowdoin Park, Wappingers Falls

Alpine skiing

When: 10 a.m.

Where: Holiday Mountain Ski Area, Monticello

Closing ceremony

When: 6:30 p.m.

Where: Mid-Hudson Civic Center, City of Poughkeepsie