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Wednesday, June 15, 2022
Serving Kosciusko County and parts of Elkhart, Marshall & Noble Counties s Know Your Neighbor.. . . . . 2➤ Good Neighbors . . . . . . . . . . 4
Vol. 51, No. 51
Milford (574) 658-4111 • Warsaw (574) 269-2932 • Syracuse (574) 457-3666
114 W. Market, Warsaw, Indiana 46580
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Bright and early this Friday morning, June 17, 27 Kosciusko County athletes will climb into vans, cars and trucks to make their way to Terre Haute for the annual Indiana Special Olympics summer games. It’s a weekend eagerly anticipated by these men and women, who range in age from 14 to 70-something, as well as by their 10 adult volunteers and coaches. The summer games are contested on the campus of Indiana State University, which is also where the athletes will stay in dormitories during the games, which will last three days, according to Special Olympics Kosciusko County Coordinator Becky Walls. The delegation from Kosciusko County will participate in track and field, bowling and bocce. Other sports are contested during the games, including volleyball, softball and three-on-three basketball, but the local group focuses on those three venues. Walls noted all the games’ participants have some form of intellectual disability. While some might also have physical disabilities, that criterion alone does not qualify an individual for participation. “This year’s local numbers are down,” Walls said. “Usually we take 40-45 athletes. Of our 27 athletes this year, two are new and the rest have participated before.” It is estimated around 3,000 athletes from across the state, representing most of the 92 counties, will compete. The state is divided into 10 areas, with Kosciusko part of Area 5, which also includes Wabash, Howard, Pulaski, Fulton, Tipton, Miami and Cass counties. Walls has been a part of SOKC since its inception in 1973. Her mother, Maxine Burcham, began the program that year through her employer, Cardinal Services. Walls assisted her mother in various roles before starting the bowling program in 1988. Burcham died in 1996, which led Walls to taking a larger role with the track and field program. Eventually, in 1999, Walls became the county coordinator, a
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