News

Team Wisconsin basketball team plays scrimmage to prepare for National Games

MADISON, Wis. – March Madness will descend on the city of Oshkosh as nearly 1,000 Special Olympics athletes shoot hoops on the basketball court and twirl ribbons on the gymnasium floor at the 34th annual Special Olympics State Indoor Sports tournament held on Saturday, April 10th and Sunday, April 11th at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.

A special feature of the state tournament includes the Team Wisconsin basketball team, who will represent the state at the 2010 U.S.A. National Games in Nebraska this summer. The team will kick off the tournament with a basketball scrimmage against a team of coaches from across the state at the Kolf Sports Center on Friday, April 9th at 7 p.m.  The public is invited to this game that will include trivia contests between quarters.

Basketball teams will face off at the Kolf Sports Center on April 10th from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and April 11th from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Athletes will also show off their basketball skills at the Albee Gymnasium from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. while gymnasts leap into action at the Kolf Sports Center with performances from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on April 10th.

Closing Ceremonies are set for 7 p.m. on Saturday, April 10 at the Kolf Sports Center and will include a dance competition and victory party. Spectators are encouraged to cheer the athletes on at this family-oriented, free event!

In 2010 a total of over 9,500 plungers participated in twelve Polar Plunges and helped to raise about $1.7 million for Special Olympics Wisconsin statewide.

Thank you to everyone who participated! Your efforts make a huge difference in the lives of Special Olympics Wisconsin athletes.

Learn more about the Polar Plunge and view photos and video at http://www.specialolympicswisconsin.org/polar_plunge.asp

Read the February Newsletter at
http://www.specialolympicswisconsin.org/e/0210.html

Stories include

• Winter Games
• Polar Plunge
• National Games athlete spotlight
• Capitol Hill Day
• Spread the word to end the word

And much more.

On January 18, Special Olympics Wisconsin (SOWI) Southeastern Area and Texas Roadhouse in Kenosha teamed up to raise nearly $7,000 during the 2nd annual Guardians of the Flame® Lunch.

Key law enforcement volunteers and Texas Roadhouse management decided to hold the event on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day last year and continued the tradition in 2010. The day was chosen because state employees could participate on their day off, and also to follow the encouragement by the Governor to consider the holiday as a call to volunteer.

“I love the Special Olympics event that we do every year,” Texas Roadhouse Assistant Service Manager Stefanie “Sammy” Malek said. “It really gives us a chance to make a difference and partner with the community.”

Local law enforcement partnered up with wait staff to serve free lunch to patrons during the three hour event. All “tips” the officers earned will benefit the 1,500 athletes in the SOWI Southeastern Area. Texas Roadhouse generously donated all the food for the estimated 1,100 meals served. Twenty-five members of the Texas Roadhouse wait staff and five management personnel also donated their time to participate.

“The Special Olympics event we had this year was amazing.  One of the athletes even remembered me from last year!  When I was walking him to his table, he grabbed my hand and held it until we got to his seat.  I’m glad that I was part of such an important day,” server Meghan Downes said.

For those who couldn’t leave work, the event also offered delivery to areas such as the Kenosha County Jail and the hospital. Over 200 meals were served by officers just through delivery, bringing in almost $1,500 in tips!

Local law enforcement that participated include officers from the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department, Kenosha Police Department, Racine Correctional Institution, Racine Youthful Offender Correctional Facility, UW-Parkside Police Department, and Wisconsin Department of Corrections Probation and Parole Agents.

Thank you to everyone for the participation in this hugely successful event! Texas Roadhouse and SOWI Southeastern Area plan to team up again for the Guardians of the Flame lunch next year.

View event photos

Find a LETR event near you

The first Polar Plunge of the year will be held this Sunday at Muskego County Park. The 10th Annual Muskego Polar Plunge features live music by the Love Monkeys and many other fun activities! More information.

This year, there will be 12 Polar Plunges benefiting Special Olympics Wisconsin throughout the state. Some big changes this year include a new Plunge in Menomonie and a new location for the Stevens Point Plunge in Wisconsin Rapids. So far, nearly 4,000 Plungers have registered online! More information and online registration

Check out the 2010 Polar Plunge YouTube video to see what it's all about!

Several athletes, staff and coaches representing Wisconsin in the 2010 USA National Games in Nebraska are taking the Plunge for Special Olympics. Check out their team pages here.

Thank you to Kwik Trip and The Law Enforcement Torch Run for supporting the Polar Plunge statewide.

Read the December issue of Teammates at http://www.specialolympicswisconsin.org/e/1209.html

 Stories include, Fall Sports Tournament, MedFest, Polar Plunge and more.

We are pleased to announce that Special Olympics will once again participate in the P&GbrandSAVER coupon promotion! Look in your local newspaper on Sunday, December 27^th for a coupon book worth more than $88 in savings. To find your local newspaper that carries the P&GbrandSAVER coupon book please click here. The coupons in the 12/27 P&GbrandSAVER will only run until January 31^st, so hurry up and clip to save!

 

For 30 years, P&G has been a loyal supporter of Special Olympics, and this year is no exception. For each coupon redeemed, P&G will donate 3 cents to Special Olympics. And there’s no limit -- the more coupons used, the bigger the gift to our programs!

 

This promotion is a great opportunity to not only help out the Special Olympics community but other communities in need during the holiday season. You can use the coupons to purchase items for the homeless or even our troops overseas. In these tough economic times, the P&GbrandSAVER coupon promotion truly packs a two-for-one punch!

 

As always, your participation is vital to Special Olympics fundraising success.  We would greatly appreciate if you would participate in the December 27^th – January 31^st promotion to benefit Special Olympics. Take advantage of these great savings offers and automatically change the lives of so many individuals with intellectual disabilities.

George Whitely, president of Stephan & Brady, Inc. in Madison, WI was recently selected to be honored by the Madison Civics Club.  Recipients of this honor are community members who show “outstanding, unselfish service to their community.” Whitely is the current Chair of the Board of Directors for Special Olympics Wisconsin.  For more than 17 years, he has served in a variety of leadership positions on and off the Board.  The award was presented at the Monona Terrace on Saturday, Nov. 7.

 

Whitely first stepped into the world of Special Olympics Wisconsin in 1990, as he presented a plan to do some pro-bono work for the organization on Stephan & Brady’s behalf. “I was hooked ever since,” he said, and within a couple years, the organization put a call out for a position on the board and Whitely stepped up.

 

“I had the chance to meet athletes and observe the wonderful things the staff and volunteers were doing for our athletes,” said Whitely. “It’s always nice to be recognized for work you do, but I get a lot more out of what I do by just watching the athletes and the positive impact that Special Olympics has on their life. That makes it all worth it.”

 

Because of George’s relationship with SOWI, Stephan and Brady developed the polar bear logo and ‘freezin for a reason’ tagline for the Polar Plunge, Special Olympics Wisconsin’s largest fundraiser. Both the logo and the tagline are used by Special Olympics programs all over the country, and have been trademarked by Special Olympics, Inc.  

 

Whitely has had the opportunity to travel to the 1999 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Raleigh, NC as well as the 2001 World Winter Games in Anchorage, AK “It was an unbelievable spectacle,” said Whitely as  he escorted Team Wisconsin’s athletes into the Opening Ceremony for the USA delegation.

 

The Civics Club honors outstanding citizens and youth groups, like Whitely, who have given of themselves over many years to benefit the needs of others and mirror their 2009 theme, "Defying the Odds: When They Said it Couldn't Be Done." Whitely has done just that since he not only has served alongside Special Olympics Wisconsin, but his tenure with Stephan & Brady began in 1979 with 30 employees, now growing to 44, making the jump from a $10million company to $40 million. The company serves approximately 20 clients including the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, MillerCoors, Church Mutual Insurance, Wilderness at the Smokey’s Resort and Lifeline.

 

The Madison Civics Club was formed in 1912 to encourage civic engagement and thoughtful discussion of the social issues of the day. The organization offers a lecture-luncheon series of five annual meetings highlighting inspiring national and local speakers to more than 550 members. For more information on the Civics Club, visit madisoncivicsclub.org or for additional information on Whitely’s work with Special Olympics Wisconsin, visit SpecialOlympicsWisconsin.org or StephanBrady.com