Got a lot of much. Got a black, I'm got a black got
on. Let's see and good morning. Welcome to Community Connection on this Monday
morning. It is eight thirty four, almost a thirty five. I'm Nathan
Thompson and we've got a great guest in studio today. We have Nadia Jackson,
who's the Grand Area Director. I love that title, Grand Aria Director,
right for Grand Area Special Olympics. It's Nadia. How are you today?
I'm great. How are you doing? Oh, I'm great too,
I'm doing wonderful. We've had some McDonald's here at the studio today. I'm
telling you, man, what a great way to start your day. It
was a great way to start the day, absolutely, and a great way
to start the day is also talking to you about Special Olympics. And it's
an event that is near and dear to not only my heart, but I
know a lot of our listeners hearts as well. We just had a big,
huge event at Bartiswore High School. As we did, Yeah we did.
How did that go? Oh? It went well. We had one
hundred and sixty athletes from all over Grand Area come out to compete in that
For the first time ever, the Bartlesville Police Department did the letters torch run.
They ran the torch into the stadium from the police department. It was
great. It was awesome to see our athletes did well and thankfully the weather
was nice. Absolutely it was I was watching that forecast as well, like,
oh my goodness, hopefully everything will be okay for those incredible athletes.
Now, of course, Special Olympics is for people of any age really that
have three to one hundred there you go, there you go, who have
intellectual disabilities, yes, and other challenges in their lives, and Special Olympics
just shows hey, you know what, if I can do it, anybody
can do it, right, absolutely, and it's just a time frame in
which people can come and celebrate and have a great time as well. I
know we have a great time coming up here in just a couple of days
at big cornhole tournaments Saturday. Wow, we do. We have athletes from
Craig County, Delaware County, Mays County, Washington County, Ottawa County all
coming to Bartlesviille High School. Nice to play some cornhole. We're gonna do
individuals in the morning and then some unified partners in the afternoon. A cornhole
with us. I'm telling you, I'm telling you that's a game I can
actually do too. I'm really I'm not that athletic. I'm the first one
to admit it. But I can certainly play some cornhole. I'm telling you.
Yeah, I enjoyed it two years ago when the state actually made it
an official event. Oh, I love I can play cornhole absolutely absolutely.
So this is coming up April and thirteenth, It's coming Saturday, and again,
what time is the time? We're asking people to be there, and
we absolutely need some volunteers. If anybody in the community would like to come
out and help us that morning, that's great, that's great, yes,
And I mean it just gives somebody. I volunteer for these events. Since
I'm speaking a little bit from personal experience and maybe it's just me, but
man, the feeling and the excitement and the love and the smiles that go
on during special Olympics and dealing with and helping these extraordinary athletes, that's what
I call them extraordinary, and they are they really are sent and they they
find a way to touch your life while you're giving back and touching their life.
Absolutely, it's a give and take there that's right. So is a
cornhole tournament? Is it going to be outdoors or is it indoor? We
actually didn't want to mess with the weather, so we have it at the
indoor facility. Okay, it'll be set up nice there. We'll have concession
stands. Even if you don't want to volunteer, come out and watch them,
come out and cheer them on. They love that. Is that going
to be at the Bruin field House or the phillipse Okay, so the big
one, the big one one, Well, that's plenty of plenty of room
for folks to come out and volunteer as well as to people to come out
and cheer on. Yes, this event as well. We definitely welcome spectators,
absolutely absolutely. So if somebody would like to volunteer to help you with
the cornhole tournament, how can they do that? Send me an email at
grand at s o ok dot org. Very good, easy enough, easy
enough, and send them the linked to sign up for volunteers. There you
go, There you go. Now you have another one coming up too,
so we have a busy time at the time of year. We have on
the twentieth, so that's the following Saturday. We are doing bachi at Vanita
High School. Nice. Nice, So yeah, we're just staying busy.
So for those who are not familiar with with what BATCHI is, oh man,
can you give it a brief description? Yes, for bachi, absolutely
on the spot there. Sorry, no, you're fine. It's an outdoor
game that that blend's skill and strategy. You throw out a littler white ball
and then each team has four colored balls, and you're trying to get your
ball as close to the little white ball as possible, and all of your
balls that are closer than your teammates that's how many points you get. There
you go. So is it like rolling a ball? You roll the ball?
Okay, so kind of like like a bit of a take on maybe
shuffleboard and bowling at the same time, so same thing. Yeah, it's
a lot like shuffle board because you can definitely roll the ball and knock your
opponents all out of the way. Love it. So yeah, it's a
lot like shuffle board, is how I think of it. Wow, I'm
telling you. So. We have the Cornhols Tournament coming up here in Bartlesville
for Special Olympics at Bartlesviall High School this coming Saturday morning. And then the
following Saturday the Grand Area and that again is basically the northeast section of Oklahoma
from Washington County all the way over to Ottawa County. Am I right with
that, all the way over to the state line. There you go,
see all of them. I'm telling you. I'm telling you. So we'll
have a perhaps another hundred special athletes that might be here as well. Do
you know the numbers that you're expecting. I hope we have around one hundred
and fifty for that one. Wow, So it's going to be quite an
event. So one hundred and fifty special athletes coming into town this Saturday morning
for a corn hole tournament at Boloshall High School in the fieldhouse. And then
we have a bokey ball that's going on in Venita, yes, the following
weekend. And this is all gearing up for the big event, right,
yes, yeah, So we have the State Special Olympics coming up. When
is that going to be? Oh May fifteenth through seventeen, And that's in
Stillwater, right it is. Thousands of athletes from all over the state will
descend on still Water. The minute those college kids move out of the doors,
we're moving in oh I love it. And we spend three days there.
We have an amazing opening ceremony and three days worth of competitions and it's
fun to see absolutely absolutely so. Again Grand Area Special Olympics. A couple
more of this, excuse me, coming up for our area the Saturday in
Bartlesville at BHS and the next Saturday in Veneta, and then the Big State
Games coming up May fifteenth through the seventeenth on the campus of Oklahoma State University.
Wow, they are excited, and it's again, I just go back
to this. It's a great enrichment for the special athletes. It is.
I mean, whenever I was in Rapid City, excuse me, I actually
helped out with Special Olympics in Rapid City, South Dakota, and we did
bowling. I was therefore their bowling tournament, and oh my goodness, gracious,
they had so much fun. I was running around taking photos of all
these great athletes and man, they get serious. Oh they do. There's
some serious competitors out there. But the one thing I've noticed about them is
they're great athletes. Whether they win or they lose, they they're in a
great mood. They cheer on everybody around them, which is just amazing to
see. It's camaraderie that they build. And yes, again, volunteers,
volunteers. Volunteers are needed for the cornhole tournament coming up this Saturday morning about
high school. Give me that email address one more time in case somebody was
driving and listening they Oh my goodness, what's that email address? I need?
It is Grand at s o ok dot org. There you go,
Grand at s o o k k dot org. Yes, the s o
OK stands for Special Olympics Oklahoma. There you go, sock, I can
remember that, so Grand at souk dot org or there you go. That's
that's easy for me to remember. I'm telling you, I'm getting up an
age. It's it's tough for me to remember some things. Sometimes. Very
good we Nadia Jackson, Grand Area director for Special Olympics, talking about everything
going on here over the next couple of weeks leading up to the Big State
Games at Oklahoma State University on May the fifteenth to the seventeenth. Get out
support these great athletes this Saturday at BHS. Give her an email to volunteer
and then hey, if you want to make a road trip to Venita,
watch some bokey ball that would be great as well, but not anything else
that is going on with Special Olympics. Gearing up for next season, I
mean always, always, yeah, we already have plans for next season in
the works. We kick off right at the beginning of the school year with
swimming, which actually this year we're bringing here to Phillip sixty six facility.
We've got so many great facilities here, it's wonderful we do so yeah,
this year we're going to bring swimming into Bartlesville. It's never been here before.
Love it. We already have that talked over with Phillip sixty six.
And then right after that we hit bowling perfect perfect, yeah. Well again.
If you will learn more about Special Olympics Oklahoma, specifically the Grand Area,
you can visit their website soooka dot org and then of course get out
and cheer for these extraordinary athletes who will be in town this coming Saturday.
Nadia Jackson, Grand Aria, Director for Special Olympics, thank you so much,
thanks for journeying us today on Community Connection. You've been listening to Community
Connection here on AM fourteen hundred FM ninety three point three ninety five point one
FM K one. The one you trust