One hundred Special Olympics World Games athletes, coaches and mentors from the Caribbean dual-island country of Trinidad & Tobago as well as the Kyrgyz Republic (Kyrgyzstan) will experience the best that Arcadia has to offer for three days and nights in July, including everything from visits to the horse race track, police station and mall to one of the City’s weekly outdoor concerts featuring Caribbean music.
The City of Arcadia, including organizations, businesses, and schools, will provide hotel rooms, meals, training facilities, entertainment, transportation, and mostly a warm welcome to 87 guests from Trinidad & Tobago who range in age from 11 to 52, and about a dozen from Kyrgyz Republic. They will use the days and nights to acclimate to the time zone and stay in shape for competition against 7,000 athletes from 177 countries in the world’s largest sports and humanitarian event anywhere in the world in 2015 that runs from July 25 – Aug. 2. Opening Ceremonies take place at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and will be televised on ESPN. Arcadia is one of more than 100 cities from San Luis Obispo to San Diego selected to participate in the Host Town program. The country selected for each Host Town was chosen by the Special Olympics. Long Beach, for example, will be hosting a large delegation from China. Track announcements and photos at the Facebook page called Host Town Arcadia, and give it a “Like.”
Arcadia Host Town committee chairman Bruce McCallum (seated at end of table) and several other committee members recently met with the Trinidad-Tobago Head of Delegation Candy Berman-Harper and Trinidad policeman and fireman Ferdinand Bibby (seated second and third from right, respectively).
Bruce McCallum is the volunteer chairman of the Host Town Committee of about 20 community volunteers, including former Arcadia Mayor and Rotarian Bob Harbicht and former president of Special Olympics Southern California Dick Van Kirk.
The committee includes the Arcadia Chamber of Commerce, which has recruited Chamber member hotels Embassy Suites Arcadia, Hilton Garden Inn, and Santa Anita to provide greatly discounted stays for the entire delegation all three nights, plus free breakfasts each day and free Wi-Fi service.
The Arcadia Woman’s Club will host the group’s dinner upon their arrival July 21 and provide entertainment that includes 10-year-old singing sensation Chelsea Chiu performing the USA national anthem, with Arcadian Sylvester Kemie serving as deejay and playing versions of the visitors’ national anthems. Matt Denny’s Ale House Restaurant will host the official welcoming dinner program on July 22. The Arcadia Unified School District will provide its facilities for a couple hours of workouts July 22-23, with In-N-Out providing hamburger and cheeseburger lunches from a truck at the high school on July 23 for the visitors and other Special Olympics athletes from San Gabriel Valley. George Fasching’s Car Wash and the Arcadia Rotary Club are providing an old-fashioned outdoor American cookout lunch of hot dogs, baked beans, potato salad, chips and apple pie for visitors on July 22 while they enjoy Wilderness Park. The group will spend time at Westfield Santa Anita mall and tour the neighboring Santa Anita Park horse race track as well as the police station. The delegation will also join nearly 1,000 Arcadians who attend the City’s free summer concerts on the lawn of City Hall the evening of Thursday, July 23, which will coincidentally feature a Caribbean band which has agreed to play the national anthems of the visiting countries. A buffet dinner will be provided at the concert by the Arcadia Chinese Association.
The Arcadia Host Town committee will be creating photo keepsakes and providing gift packages for each of the attendees to take home to remember their stay in Arcadia, and some volunteers will wear special Host Town shirts. The Rotary Club and other organizations are making donations to pay for these and other expenses. Additional money will be raised with the help of BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse, 400 Huntington Drive, Arcadia, CA 91006, which will donate up to 50% of all dinner bills of Host Town supporters at the restaurant on Tuesday, March 10. Seating is limited and advance reservation is required. RSVP by March 7 to Glenn Oyoung via e-mail at goyoung18@gmail.com or phone: 310-739-1270.
About Trinidad-Tobago and Kyrgyzstan Republic Despite a population of only 1.3 million, Trinidad-Tobago is a world power in track and field and soccer and the third richest country per capita in the Americas behind the U.S. and Canada. Kyrgyzstan, formerly a part of the Soviet Union, is located in Central Asia, has a population of 5.7 million, and is bordered by China, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
About Special Olympics Special Olympics, founded in 1968 by Eunice Kennedy Shriver, uses sports to empower 4.4 million people with intellectual disabilities to become accepted and valued members of their communities, which leads to a more respectful and inclusive society for all. Special Olympics delivers 32 Olympic-type sports and more than 81,000 games and competitions throughout the year.