Silver Valley Civitan
hosts
Summer Celebration for Special Olympics
Submitted by Gary Arnold
Special
Olympics athletes and their families celebrated on a wonderful and comfortable summer evening at the WoodmenLife Lodge in
Denton on June 20.
The 27th edition hosted by the Silver Valley Civitan Club
provided food, fun and fellowship to nearly 60 people. Civitan President Amy Hughes greeted the guests for fishing, Bingo,
hot dogs and ice cream.
For nearly three decades the club has invited Special
Olympics athletes, their families, coaches and other invited guests to enjoy the beginning of summer.
Several anglers hooked fish or had fun trying. BINGO was the most popular activity with numerous prizes won
by many. Hot dogs with all the trimmings were served along with ice cream with syrup topped off the evening.
Volunteers included nine Civitan members along with family and friends. Among the friends were people from
NUCOR Steel helping Harold Parrish with fishing. Other volunteers were Karen A. Coppley, Diane Carrick and Dustin Summey.
John & Debbie Hughes with Page and Peggy Harrison handled food preparation.
Mike and Christy Hopkins of Albemarle were guests BINGO callers.
The
WoodmenLife facility has been the location for the event for 23 years.
The
inaugural summer outing was in 1996 when the club invited people to enjoy a relaxing summer evening at the home of Phil Hemphill.
The event skipped 1999 in favor of activities surrounding the Special Olympics World Summer Games held in North Carolina
and the associated Host Town program.
Camp Walter Johnson was the site in
2000 before finding a home in 2001 at the WoodmenLife Lodge.
The 2016 event
was recognized by the former North Carolina District West Civitan as the most outstanding service project to people with disabilities.
The Civitan mission is to build good citizenship through clubs dedicated to serving individual and community needs
with an emphasis on helping people with developmental disabilities. The Silver Valley Civitan Club has served the community
for 66 years.