When Special Olympics athletes entered the Louis Room at Norris University Center Sunday night, glittery heart-, flower- and ladybug-shaped valentines instantly caught their eye. But they weren’t the only ones receiving these tokens of friendship.
“(One athlete) just gave me a valentine that said ‘You are pretty’ on it,” said Rachel Adamczyk, a Weinberg senior and co-president of Special Olympics.
The annual Special Olympics Valentine’s Day Dance kicks off a series of fund raising and awareness events sponsored by the group. About 60 people attended the dance.
Special Olympics outreach co-chairwomen Abby Dallett and Lis Rehder, who were responsible for planning the event, were pleased the rain and cold hadn’t affected the turnout.
“We’re happy to see the athletes got here considering the weather,” said Rehder, a Weinberg senior.
Athletes were encouraged to spend time at each of the four stations set up in the Louis Room. They could make valentines, decorate cookies, dance or participate in a cakewalk.
Michele Spector, a Special Olympic athlete, said she had a great time decorating valentines. She said she comes to the dance every year.
Spector, a Skokie resident, has been competing in the 25-meter breaststroke and the 50-meter backstroke since she was in high school. She is also a member of a bowling league at a school for people with developmental diseases.
“We bowl every Sunday and go out to dinner,” Spector said.
Weinberg junior Roger Hsieh volunteers with the Sunday bowling group.
“A lot of the activity time is training, but some activities are just fun events,” he said. “Sometimes we have tournaments versus other Special Olympic agencies just for fun.”
At Sunday’s dance, fun seemed to be the order of the day.
Athletes and volunteers danced and cakewalked to music by Britney Spears, Cassidy and the Backstreet Boys.
Special Olympics volunteers were joined by members of Beta Theta Pi fraternity, who were fulfilling their quarterly community service requirement.
Betas have to complete 10 hours of community service per quarter, according to Beta philanthropy chairman Pat McCormick. He said the fraternity has a long-standing relationship with Special Olympics and several members of the fraternity coach after-school basketball at local high schools.
Raising awareness is the reason Communication senior Avanti Lal joined Special Olympics in the first place.
“I work with a little boy who has developmental problems,” she said. “This is a great way to raise awareness about developmental diseases and the special needs that people have.”
According to Adamczyk, the group has already reached out to similar organizations in the community, such as Evanston Special Recreation, Have Dreams, the New Trier High School and Maine-Niles Special Recreation.
“We say to them, you have programs for students, and we have students who want to help out,” Adamczyk said. “Now, we want to get a lot more athlete-student interaction.”
Special Olympics will hold its second Annual NU Idol competition on March 2 at 7 p.m. at Cahn Auditorium. Tickets are $5 for students and $7 general admission.
“We have an a cappella group of athletes called Heartbreakers who are competing,” Adamczyk said.
Contestants will be judged by a panel made up of two faculty members and one student.
Reach Christina Alexander at [email protected].
