{"id":14884,"date":"2015-04-29T23:03:17","date_gmt":"2015-04-29T23:03:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/independentweekender.com\/?p=14884"},"modified":"2015-05-08T20:01:04","modified_gmt":"2015-05-08T20:01:04","slug":"special-olympians-beat-the-snow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2015\/04\/29\/special-olympians-beat-the-snow\/","title":{"rendered":"Special Olympians beat the snow"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"JOHN<\/a>

JOHN LUND \/ STAFF PHOTO Preston Cosklo, 8, from Mountain View, beams after crossing the finish line on Thursday during the Special Olympics at Tunkhannock Area High School Memorial Stadium.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Runners<\/a>

Runners dodge snowflakes on their race to the finish line Thursday at the Area P Special Olympics held Thursday in Tunkhannock. TIMES SHAMROCK STAFF PHOTO\/JOHN LUND<\/p><\/div>\n

BY JOHN LUND<\/strong>
\n Times-Shamrock Writer<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd they\u2019re off!\u201d<\/p>\n

When Area P manager Joe Lillis echoed the familiar start call through Tunkhannock Area High School Memorial Stadium, athletes broke from the starting line with grins on their faces while family and friends cheered them on from start to finish.<\/p>\n

But in these races, there would be no rush to the finish line.<\/p>\n

On this day, everyone was a winner.<\/p>\n

More than 300 athletes from 10 schools from throughout Northeast Pennsylvania braved the snowy weather and participated in the annual Area P Special Olympics in Tunkhannock on Thursday, all leaving with at least one medal hanging from their necks.<\/p>\n

After the traditional \u2018Parade of Champions\u2019 kicked off the event, it was off to the races.<\/p>\n

The event is held for all ages from Lackawanna, Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Wyoming counties, and includes races of 50 meters, 100 meters, 200 meters and 400 meters.<\/p>\n

Each race was broken into groups, including eight-years-old and under, nine to 12, 13 and older, walking and wheelchair divisions.<\/p>\n

Students from the Tunkhannock Area student councils helped to coordinate other activities, such as the softball \u2018shot put\u2019 toss, bean bag toss, face painting and other games.<\/p>\n

The concession stand was also up and running to provide food and drinks to the athletes and fans.<\/p>\n

Erika Colavitti, who helps coordinate the Special Olympics program in Wyoming County, said the event is rewarding to everyone, not just the athletes.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust seeing their faces when they\u2019re running or getting their medals, it\u2019s priceless,\u201d she said. \u201cThe most important thing is that the kids are happy and enjoy this. It\u2019s just such a rewarding event for us. I love it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Colavitti said that the event is a great way for students to make friends with other schools and come together every year to participate in something that they\u2019ll always be sure to remember.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey get to be with other schools and make friends, and the self-esteem boost they get through all of this doesn\u2019t have a price,\u201d Colavitti said.<\/p>\n

Colavitti started prepping for the Special Olympics as early as January and began sending letters out to sponsors asking for donations.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of them volunteer, some of them send money and other donate things for the concession stand,\u201d she said. \u201cI have to also coordinate with the students so they can get their physicals in order to participate. There\u2019s definitely a lot of paperwork involved.\u201d<\/p>\n

The event is one of the longest-running Special Olympics in the area, having been held for more than 25 years.<\/p>\n

Athletes can also choose to have their times or distances measured and recorded so that they can qualify for the state competition at Penn State University.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s Special Olympics were originally scheduled for Wednesday, April 22, but was pushed back a day to avoid an afternoon\u2019s worth of rain.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, rain gave way to snow flurries on Thursday morning, but, according to Colavitti, had little effect in preventing all of the athletes from having a blast.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe adults are usually cold, but the kids are not,\u201d she laughed. \u201cI always hope that the weather will cooperate. They enjoyed themselves and were happy, but we\u2019re definitely looking forward to the weather in the month or May.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the Special Olympics Pennsylvania website, Area P has 530 active athletes and 28 unified partners participating in the program, along with 161 volunteers, who spend their time as coaches, administrators, equipment managers and more to make the program a wonderful success.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BY JOHN LUND Times-Shamrock Writer \u201cAnd they\u2019re off!\u201d When Area P manager Joe Lillis echoed the familiar start call through Tunkhannock Area High School Memorial…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":14886,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14884","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nSpecial Olympians beat the snow - PS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2015\/04\/29\/special-olympians-beat-the-snow\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Special Olympians beat the snow - PS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"BY JOHN LUND Times-Shamrock Writer \u201cAnd they\u2019re off!\u201d When Area P manager Joe Lillis echoed the familiar start call through Tunkhannock Area High School Memorial...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2015\/04\/29\/special-olympians-beat-the-snow\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"PS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-04-29T23:03:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-05-08T20:01:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/WGSI_SpecOlym_TheyreOff.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"3121\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1189\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"tpennysaver\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"tpennysaver\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2015\/04\/29\/special-olympians-beat-the-snow\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2015\/04\/29\/special-olympians-beat-the-snow\/\",\"name\":\"Special Olympians beat the snow - PS\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2015\/04\/29\/special-olympians-beat-the-snow\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2015\/04\/29\/special-olympians-beat-the-snow\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/psowegomedia.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/WGSI_SpecOlym_TheyreOff.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-04-29T23:03:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-05-08T20:01:04+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/75c26bc8e32869a516360463d23964c5\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2015\/04\/29\/special-olympians-beat-the-snow\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2015\/04\/29\/special-olympians-beat-the-snow\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2015\/04\/29\/special-olympians-beat-the-snow\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/psowegomedia.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/WGSI_SpecOlym_TheyreOff.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/psowegomedia.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/WGSI_SpecOlym_TheyreOff.jpg\",\"width\":3121,\"height\":1189,\"caption\":\"Runners dodge snowflakes on their race to the finish line Thursday at the Area P Special Olympics held Thursday in Tunkhannock. 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