This weekend, Waterloo region hosted the spring games of Special Olympics Ontario, and myself and my friend Corey attended the opening ceremonies. Frankly, we were blown away. It was held in Waterloo, originally scheduled prior to the pandemic but rescheduled, and incredibly well organized by Waterloo regional police, with Chief Mark Crowell heading it up for the first time. I was amazed by how organized everything was and the amount of passion and dedication that had gone into it.

We were able to witness the law enforcement torch run and athletes entering the arena to light the torch. The torch run is something that has been going on for years now to support the Special Olympics. It’s a really interesting partnership between police as sort of the community members that bring everything together.

The one thing that everybody kept saying as we watched the athletes come in was people saying that their faces hurt, because they couldn’t stop smiling, and I was one of those. In a time where people are somewhat dour and cynical, it was quite amazing to see a group of athletes who are so incredibly delighted to participate in something that they love and to have that much enthusiasm.

It also marked the retirement of CEO Glenn MacDonell, who has spent 35 years supporting Special Olympics Ontario. The love that these athletes had for him was just incredible to see. So thank you to Mr. MacDonell, thank you to WRPS and thank you to all of the amazing athletes that competed this weekend in Waterloo region.