Regional Kiwanis Special Olympics - 2012

Camaraderie of seeking excellence in sports, as in life

The annual Woodlands Texas Kiwanis Club regional Special Olympics was conducted at the Oak Ridge North High School stadium for the 28th consecutive year on Saturday, March 31, 2012. Special people engaged in athletic events, which made a special day in the lives of many local families and volunteers. Modified traditional track and field events were conducted in a way to challenge and to thrill those involved. You could see the energy and emotion in the eyes of volunteers, family and athletes. This was the first Special Olympics I have attended, and I was not disappointed. Some were struggling to win, others to finish and others to beat their own best record. Thanks to the seventeen tournament sponsors and the thirteen volunteer groups. Also thanks to the Montgomery County Hospital District for EMS and SWJ Southwest for donating awards. Oak Ridge Athletics  programs provided facilities and assistance. Additional support was provided by seven additional organizations. Photos (below) provided by Woodlands Photo Studio.

Opening Ceremonies - Color Guard, Navy Recruiting, Houston

Team march: I H Rogers

Brenham, Texas

Coldsprings, Texas

College Station I.S.D. Texas

Conroe, Texas

Cullen Center for Retardation, Houston, Texas

New Caney, Texas

Washington County, Texas

Willis, Texas

The Woodlands, Texas

Grandmother and Mother in support of participating child attending York Jr High, Conroe

I found the ladies above to be warm co-supporters of their child in this event, as this photo reveals, in the spirit of the mother-daughter partnership of the National Charity League (NCL - founded 1925).

The NCL is a special organization where mother and daughter join together to support a special child. The Bluebonnet (Woodlands), Magnolias (Woodlands), Montgomery, (County) Laurels (Shenandoah/Oak Ridge) and Woodlands chapters were there to help these children.

George Van Horn of Kiwanis - organizational leader of the Shot Put , among other things 

Royce Brooks, President Kiwanis. Rachell Baldwin, Director, Area 6 Special Olympics

Volunteers working the fishing booth

 Key Clubs of Kiwanis is another volunteer program from the High Schools to support this event. This year, clubs were Carl Wunsche Sr High, College Park High, Concordia Lutheran High, Oak Ridge High, Woodlands High and American Heritage Girls Troop 1230.

All photos by www.WoodlandsPhotoStudio.com are shared and available for viewing or capture on Facebook at  Woodlands Commentary Facebook Page

Girls get their photo taken with the ORS football players

This was a fun moment to see photo time with the Oak Ridge football players, who deserve to be heartily thanked for their efforts in running with the contestants and generally helping them through their events. Faces tell the story.

This young lady beat her personal all time record for the long jump in this jump. Congratulations! 

Mother of a child in Cold Springs, Texas

As the time to end was drawing near, this lady revealed an event coming. Her husband drives a bus for their team; it just so happened to also be his birthday, so they were all being taken to a Mexican restaurant to celebrate. No real need to to say this, but these kids love group events, so they of course were anxious to go together to a restaurant!

Beautiful people doing lov'n things together. It was well worth the time spent on this project!  There are great opportunities here for volunteering or giving.
Kiwanis website