MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR

    Hello and welcome to Special Olympics Virginia, Area 26. You are viewing the home page
    of a large and active community of volunteers and Special Olympics athletes who are
    thrilled to train and compete in an array of sports programs. If you would like to become
    involved in our organization, please view the information on the website and contact me
    with any questions. If you are already involved, view the site as there is an abundance of
    information available. I would appreciate your comments and suggestions.

    Sincerely,
    Bill Ogletree (Chair)

    Please click the following link to read a message from Special Olympics Virginia, Area 26.
    Message from Chairman Bill Ogletree

2009-2010 GOALS FOR AREA 26 SPECIAL OLYMPICS

Hot off the press. Check out the coming year's goals for our Area. Click here for more
information.

ATHLETE OF THE MONTH

    David Curtin

    David Curtin has been participating in Area 26 Special Olympics since he was a young child,
    and has competed in swimming, track & field, basketball, and softball, but most recently has
    been focusing on his golf game. For David, swinging a golf club has been a part of his life
    since a little boy playing in the backyard with a plastic club and ball. This year in July, he got
    to take his game to the Special Olympics National Games in Lincoln Nebraska, where he won
    a gold medal competing in Level 5 Individual Play.

    David traveled to Nebraska with 32 other athletes from the State of Virginia, to join over
    3,000 athletes from the United States. Team Virginia brought home 18 gold medals, 18 silver,
    and 12 bronze. David earned his gold medal by posting a combined 3 round score of 308. It
    was an experience of a lifetime, not only for David, but for all of the athletes and coaches
    who participated and were a part of the week long festivities.

    David has competed at the Fall State games in Virginia Beach several years, most recently
    winning a gold medal in 2009. He has also competed in the National Invitational Golf
    Tournament held in Port St. Luce, Florida in 2007 & 2008, bringing home gold and silver medals.
    The fall golf season will be getting underway very soon, and David’s focus will now be to
    prepare himself for his next big venture. David has been chosen as a member of the United
    States team that will travel to Athens, Greece in June of 2011 for the World Special Olympics
    Games!

Meaning of the Special Olympics Logo

The logo has five people who each have six arms. The down position means "downtrodden", remembering a time when many people thought thosewith intellectual disabilities were not able to make good decisions or try new things. This often describes the lives of athletes before they became involved in Special Olympics. Many had few friends and spent most of their time
alone. The straight arms mean "equal", showing that our athletes are just like everyone else. The raised arms represent "joy", and realizing ultimate goals.
    The five people represent the five continents involved in Special Olympics at the time the
    logo was created. The people are placed in a circle to represent the world as there are
    Special Olympic athletes and volunteers in almost every country around the globe.

EVENTS FOR SPECIAL OLYMPICS VIRGINIA, Area 26

second place photo contest winner     And the winner is...
    It was an extremely close race, but the winner of the Summer Games
    photo contest is Future Champs: Young Athletes! Congratulations to
    photographer Scott Brown, who captured this fantastic moment!
    Second place goes to Jumping for Joy by photographer Mark Gormus
    (photo of picture of Rebecca McKenna). Thanks to Scott and Mark for
    sharing their incredible talents with us!


The Cops & Crabs Fundraiser for Special Olympics
Join us on Thursday September 23rd at Joe's Crab Shack (Fair Lakes) to help raise money for Special Olympics. Present the attached flyer and 10% of your check will benifite Special Olympics. Click here to download the flyer. See you there!