The weekend of June 5-7 was a celebration for Special Olympics for many reasons. It was a Celebration of 15 years with Eastern Kentucky University as the home of the Special Olympics Kentucky State Summer Games. It was a celebration of one of the largest turnouts in several years for a State Summer Games. And once again it was a celebration of everything that athletes with intellectual disabilities can accomplish when opportunities, training and motivation are available to them.

Billy Joe Anderson of Bowling Green was one of two athletes to Deadlift 400 pounds at the State Summer Games Powerlifting competition.

Maybe nowhere was this celebration of ability more evident than at the powerlifting venue. There two Bowling Green athletes performed personal bests and hit 400 pounds in the Deadlift portion of the competition. For Billy Joe Anderson, his 400-pound lift only solidified his narrow lead in his Division after the Bench Press portion. However, the 400-pound lift made all the difference for Willy Kirby. Kirby, the defending Gold Medallists in his class was pushed by Kirby Thomas of the Unity Lifters this year. Thomas had outlifted Kirby by 32 pounds in the Bench Press and led by 23 points in a scoring system that factors in a lifter body weight to level the playing field. Willie Kirby's Deadlift gave him a 1.08 point edge over Thomas, marking the second consecutive year he had won Gold by less than two points.

Stride Bocce player Reba McDonald makes a roll in a preliminary game on her team's way to a Gold Medal as teammate Kevin Beck looks on.

At the Bocce venue, the Kentucky Stride Rollers (Winchester) made a miraculous comeback. Following round robin competition, the Stride team of Reba McDonald and Kevin Beck were 1-2. As the best 1-2 team from the four-team group they moved tot he Gold Medal game to face off against the undefeated East End (Louisville) team of Cindy Kolarik and Michael Willard. Kolarik and Willard had beaten McDonald and Beck 11-3 in round robin play. However, Stride rose to the challenge and rolled to a 13-7 victory to claim the Gold. In the Bronze Medal Game of the women's division Cassie Eiseman of Northern Kentucky Bocce used a spectacular shot that rolled to rest within a couple inches of the pallina (target ball) to pull out an 8-7 victory for her and Vicki Wagner over Northern Kentucky teammates Beth Castle and Sheri Pegg.

At soccer, in the 1A Division, the Grant County Titans captured a Gold Medal in their first year of competition. The Titans defeated Stewart Home School 5-1 and then the Southeast (Louisville) Storm 3-0 in the round-robin format. In the B-Blue Division, the Louisville Wizards overcame the top seeded Gateway (Montgomery County) Eagles, winning 4-1 to claim that Division's Gold Medal.

More than 200 athletes had vision screenings at the Opening Eyes station. Many of them received free glasses.

But the Summer Games are about more than competition. During the day on Saturday, hundreds of athletes gathered in Olympic Town, to dance, play games and produce crafts between their events. While at Olympic Town, athletes also visited the Healthy Athletes Wellness Village presented by Wal-Mart. Healthy Athletes offered five different screenings in 2009 — dental, through Special Smiles; vision, through Opening Eyes; physical therapy, through Fun Fitness; podiatry, through Fit Feet; and new this year hearing, through Healthy Hearing. In all, nearly 800 screenings were provided Friday night and Saturday. More than 200 athletes went through Opening Eyes alone, with several receiving free glasses where available.

More than 7,000 photos of the State Summer Games, taken by member of the Creative Camera Club of Lexington can be seen HERE.

Our thanks to our 2009 Special Olympics Kentucky State Summer Games sponsors — Special Olympics Official Partners Kroger, The Law Enforcement Torch Run, Six Flags and Texas Roadhouse; as well as Games sponsors American Legion and American Legion Auxiliary, The Wal-Mart Foundation, Eastern Kentucky University, McDonald's of Richmond and Community Alternatives of Kentucky

For more information about the Games or if you have questions about sponsorship opportunities, contact Special Olympics Kentucky Executive Vice President Trish Mazzoni at 800-633-7403 or via e-mail at tmazzoni@soky.org.