Smiles all around: Dreary weather doesn't slow Special Olympics
By KIM BRIGGEMAN of the Missoulian
Question: How can so many people, on such a lousy morning, produce so many smiles?
Jerry Ask of Hamilton, take it away. ...
“I always feel good about Special Olympics. I hope you all love it as much as I do,” Ask told everybody as the spring games of the Five Valleys Area Special Olympics got under way Wednesday.
Ask, 40, is a bowler - that event comes Thursday - and he'll compete in power lifting at the State Special Olympics in Great Falls in three weeks.
On Wednesday, he delivered the “global message” in the rain at the opening ceremonies, which occurred two hours into the track-and-field competition at Stegner Field near Missoula Sentinel High School.
A morning-long sprinkle had turned into snow, drenching volunteers, spectators and the hundreds of athletes competing in events such as the motorized wheelchair slalom race, standing and running long jump, softball throw and shot put.
Volunteer timer and deputy sheriff Gordon Schmill: welcomes Kendra Riggs across the finish line of the 25-meter sprint at the Five Valleys Area Special Olympics Spring Games at the Sentinel High School track Wednesday morning. Photo by LINDA THOMPSON/Missoulian
Area Special Olympics director Roger Miller said he wondered if he shouldn't call the whole thing off.
But consultations with coaches and athletes convinced him otherwise.
“As long as the athletes are OK and we aren't losing any. ... I think one team ended up going back, but this is a pretty hardy bunch,” Miller said. “They dressed for the occasion, and they competed well, and we're going to continue to compete. It looks like we're going to get this venue out of the way.”
As the opening ceremonies wound down at 11:30 a.m., co-master of ceremonies Craig Johnson directed all eyes to the sky.
“Look at that,” he said, pointing to a broadening break in the clouds. “Mother Nature is clearing the skies for Special Olympics. There's snow in the mountains, but right above our field is blue sky and sunshine.”
And that's how it stayed.
Ray Nose was there as usual, helping out at the shot put ring during the worst of the weather and later presenting awards at the opening ceremonies.
This is the 31st year of Special Olympics in Missoula, and Nose is the only one around who can tell you about the first one.
“I was in the 100-meter walk, the 440, softball throw and discus,” he said.
“He's really the heart and soul of our local Special Olympic games,” said Miller, who's also senior program director at the Missoula Family YMCA, where Nose has worked for years.
“The Y wouldn't be the same without him, Special Olympics wouldn't be the same without Raymond. I hope he can compete for years to come. I don't know if that'll be the case, but we love Raymond.”
Now 57 years old, Nose has competed in just about every venue at the Summer Special Olympics games. But he's best known for his bowling.
“He's a very avid bowler, and an awesome bowler,” Miller said.
Nose plans on being ready when that event comes around Thursday. He said he'll get a lot of sleep, since he doesn't have to be at Westside Lanes until noon. Kids compete in the morning.
“I'm going to bowl big tomorrow,” vowed Nose. “They know it, too. They don't know I'm going to do it either, (but) I'm going to try and bowl a 300 game. It'd be my first one in a long time.”
Indeed, he has one 300 game under his belt at his old haunts, Five Valley Bowl.
Nose has another big day in store on the final day, Friday. He'll compete in his latest sport, equestrian, at Missoula Equestrian Park on North Avenue, west of Big Sky High School.
It's something Tawny Gray and her mother, Sherry, of Alberton talked him into trying a year or two ago. Tawny Gray represented Montana in the English jumping competition at the Special Olympics World Games in Beijing last year.
Had Nose ever been on a horse?
“Nope,” he said.
Does he like it?
“Yes, I do,” he answered, with zest.
Zest describes the way everybody went about things Wednesday, rain and shine.
A softball thrower clad in a heavy parka celebrated her toss with such infectious enthusiasm, none of the couple of dozen onlookers could resist celebrating with her.
A long jumper, poised to fly, stopped short at the brink of the pit, reluctant to step into the wet sand.
On the track, runners, walkers and wheelers were heartily greeted at the finish line by timers from the Missoula Police Department, no matter where they finished.
Make no mistake, winning feels good.
“Right now, I have 45 gold medals on my wall from over 10 years of competing,” Ask said in his global address. “I hope that I get some more gold medals to put on my wall when I bowl tomorrow. Maybe some day I'll need a bigger wall.”
But coming in first isn't the only reason Ask competes.
“I like trying to see what I can (power) lift,” he said. “I like doing more than what I did last time.
“It doesn't matter if I come in second or third. I just try again next time.”
Reporter Kim Briggeman can be reached at 523-5266 or at kbriggeman@missoulian.com.
