SPECIAL OLYMPICS CHAMPIONSHIPS

ON SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2024

FROM: 1:00 pm UNTIL: 1:30 pm

TIME TO ASSEMBLE: 12:00 pm -- RELEASE TIME: 1:30 pm

Call-out Event

Class: Other

is the Color Corps Commander for this event

ASM 1505 will present Colors in support of the opening ceremony for the golf competition on Saturday at the First Tee, located at 2400 Tournament Drive, Virginia Beach, VA 23456. We need Sir Knights in ORD.  Show time is noon. Please signup here or contact CCC Wayne Phelps at cc1505@vakofc.org.

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From:Earl Reid
Wed, Aug 21 at 1:29 PM
This email is being sent to all Grand Knights, District Deputies and District Wardens in districts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 30 and 35, Special Olympics Event Coordinators and Southside Navigators, and for situational awareness to all State Officers, Executive Secretary, Director of Operations,  District Master, Regional District Advisor Tidewater, Regional Marshal Tidewater, Southside Color Corp Commanders, Virginia State Council Special Olympics Coordinator and Special Olympics Virginia (SOVA)  personnel.

Event Coordinators, Worthy Grand Knights, Faithful Navigators and Color Corp
Commanders,

As indicated in my 9 August email below, the Opening Night will take place on Saturday 2 November at the Virginia Aquarium in VB located at 717 General Booth Blvd Virginia Beach, VA 23451. This is due to renovations to the track at the Virginia Sports Center. Pickle Ball, Volley Ball and Bocce will still take place at the Virginia Sports Center. Please take a look at the 9 August email below for other information regarding the mini-opening ceremonies at each event. SOVA will provide a script for the short opening ceremony at the events when we get closer to the championship. Event guides will also be made available.

Attached to this email is the list of athletic event coordinators and their contact information. If members of your council are interested is assisting with other events, please contact the event coordinator of that event.

SOVA has provided links for volunteers to sign-up for supporting athletic events and serving meals at the hotels. Event locations and sign-up links are below. SOVA's VIP groups (KofC) and partners will have until Sept. 16th to register using these private links. At that time, all volunteer sign-ups will be posted on the SOVA website and blasted out via email for the spots to be filled by the general public. So, signups will still be available after Sept. 16th, but SOVA cannot guarantee spots after that point. If anyone has questions or gets stuck, please contact SOVA Director of Events Izzy Nelson at inelson@specialolympicsva.org.

Please provide the event locations and sign-up links to your councils. Athletic event locations and signup links are provided below:

* Golf: Golf will take place at the First Tee, located at 2400 Tournament Drive, Virginia Beach, VA 23456 - Volunteers sign up here: Golf <https://sova2.my.salesforce-sites.com/volunteer/GW_Volunteers__VolunteersJo bListingFS?CampaignId=701Pc00000IPNohIAH&ShowNumberAvailable=1&nMonthsToShow
=6> (Council 10515)

* Bowling: Bowling will take place at Pinboy's at the Beach again this year, located at 1577 Laskin Road Virginia Beach, VA 23451 - Volunteers sign up here: Bowling
<https://sova2.my.salesforce-sites.com/volunteer/GW_Volunteers__VolunteersJo
bListingFS?CampaignId=701Pc00000IBJMkIAP&ShowNumberAvailable=1&nMonthsToShow
=6> (council 11984)

* Roller Skating: Roller Skating will take place at Haygood Skating Center again this year, located at 1036 Ferry Plantation Road Virginia Beach, VA 23455 (Sunday only) - Volunteers sign up here: Roller-skating <https://sova2.my.salesforce-sites.com/volunteer/GW_Volunteers__VolunteersJo
bListingFS?CampaignId=701Pc00000IBOhNIAX&ShowNumberAvailable=1&nMonthsToShow
=6> (council 367)

* Soccer: Soccer will take place at the Hampton Roads Soccer Complex, located at 2276 Recreation Drive Virginia Beach, VA 23456 - Volunteers sign up here: Soccer
<https://sova2.my.salesforce-sites.com/volunteer/GW_Volunteers__VolunteersJo
bListingFS?CampaignId=701Pc00000IPjR1IAL&ShowNumberAvailable=1&nMonthsToShow
=6> (council 12117 and 4632)

* Bocce: Bocce will take place at the Virginia Beach Sports Center, located at 1045 19th St, Virginia Beach, VA 23451 - Volunteers sign up here: Bocce <https://sova2.my.salesforce-sites.com/volunteer/GW_Volunteers__VolunteersJo
bListingFS?CampaignId=701Pc00000IBJrPIAX&ShowNumberAvailable=1&nMonthsToShow
=6> (council 13784 and 4632)

* Volley Ball: Bocce will take place at the Virginia Beach Sports Center, located at 1045 19th St, Virginia Beach, VA 23451 - Volunteers sign up here: Volleyball <https://sova2.my.salesforce-sites.com/volunteer/GW_Volunteers__VolunteersJo
bListingFS?CampaignId=701Pc00000IBOr4IAH&ShowNumberAvailable=1&nMonthsToShow
=6> (council 10804)

* Pickle Ball: Pickle Ball will take place at the Virginia Beach Sports Center located at 1045 19th St, Virginia Beach, VA 23451 - Volunteers sign up here: Pickleball
<https://sova2.my.salesforce-sites.com/volunteer/GW_Volunteers__VolunteersJo
bListingFS?CampaignId=701Pc00000IBbRhIAL&ShowNumberAvailable=1&nMonthsToShow
=6> (council 3548)

* Olympic town BINGO will take place at the Virginia Aquarium on opening night (council 12378) - No sign-up link

* Sunday lunch pick up- (council 9056) - No sign-up link

Hotel meals:

Councils serving meals to the athletes should sign-up at this link: Hotel Meals <https://sova2.my.salesforce-sites.com/volunteer/GW_Volunteers__VolunteersJo
bListingFS?CampaignId=701Pc00000IbsQTIAZ&ShowNumberAvailable=1&nMonthsToShow
=6>
* Double Tree (1900 Pavilion Dr) - 8 people - Council 4632
* Holiday Inn North Beach (3900 Atlantic Ave) - 8 people - Council 13467
* Courtyard North (3737 Atlantic Ave) - 4 people - Council 418
* Courtyard South (2501 Atlantic Ave) - 4 people - Council 418

When registering, please list "Knights of Columbus" in the volunteer organization line. This will help SOVA know who comes from where, and it would allow them to provide venue coordinators a list of Knights volunteers, if needed.
Volunteers should sign up prior to 16 September.

Faithful Navigators and Color Corp Commanders,

Regional Marshal Ed Nettleton, PGK Frank Green and I recently had an opportunity to meet with SOVA personnel regarding the Fall Championship. As indicated my 9 August email, each athletic venue will hold its own mini-opening ceremony, which will consist of the Pledge of Allegiance,
Athletic Oath and lighting of an Olympic Torch (no cauldron this year).

The Regional Marshal is coordinating assembly participation, and will contact the Faithful Navigators and Color Corp Commanders separately. . .

Have Faith and Fear Not - Everything we do, we do for the athletes.

Please contact myself or Frank Green with any questions.

Best regards,

Earl Reid, FDD/PGK/PFN

Frank Green, PGK/PFN

_____________________________________________
From: Earl Reid
Sent: Friday, August 9, 2024 7:14 PM
Subject: Special Olympics Fall championship - Opening Ceremony Changes

This email is being sent to all Grand Knights, District Deputies and District Wardens in districts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 30 and 35, Special Olympics Event Coordinators from last year, Southside Navigators and Color Corp Commanders, and for situational awareness to all State Officers, Executive Secretary, Director of Operations, District Master, District Marshal, Regional District Advisor Tidewater, Regional Marshal Tidewater North and South, Virginia State Council Special Olympics Coordinator and Special Olympics Virginia (SOVA) personnel.

Worthy Grand Knights, Faithful Navigators and Event Coordinators,

The Special Olympics Fall Championship will take place in Virginia Beach on 2 and 3 November 2024.

Co-Regional Coordinator PGK Frank Green and I recently had an opportunity to discuss this year's Special Olympics Fall Championship with SOVA representatives. The below information is a recap of that conversation.

There are some changes for the Opening Ceremony & Saturday night activities this year due to renovations scheduled on the track side of the Virginia
Beach Sports Center.

Opening Ceremony
* For this year, there will be no formal Opening Ceremony Saturday night. Instead, we will be having an Opening Night Saturday November 2nd at the Virginia Aquarium in VB located at 717 General Booth Blvd Virginia
Beach, VA 23451.
* We will have the entire north building to ourselves
* Bingo will take place as planned! The Aquarium's Giant Screen Theater room has a stage and seating for 250. SOVA is working to connect with a local bingo hall to have some nicer supplies donated (cards, balls, cage, etc) to go along with our sound system & provided prizes for the
council to use.
* There will be a room for a DJ & dance to take place.
* We expect the Opening Night to have the same timeframe as the past (sometime between 6:30-9:30pm).
* Earlier in the day, at each venue, before competition officially kicks off, a shorter (10-15 minutes) ceremony (National Anthem, athlete oath, torch, etc.) will take place, allowing each council to be involved in a ceremony
Event Opening Ceremonies
* Welcome, Athlete oath, National Anthem, Honor Guard, torch/LETR - will all still take place in a brief ceremony at each individual sports venue before competition begins.
* SOVA will provide each venue with a short script/run of show, and SOVA staff will be onsite to assist with the ceremony. We are also more than happy to meet with any council/sport coordinators that have questions.
* Each event might have a slightly different timeframe and they won't all begin at the same time across the board. All details will come as we get closer to the Special Olympics start.
* For opening night, it would be good to have maybe 10-15 Knights at the Aquarium as a welcome group to greet the athletes. Attire would be council or assembly shirts.
* The State Deputy can speak at any one of the ceremonies Saturday, however the Virginia Sports Center (Bocce, Volley Ball and Pickel Ball) or Hamptons Roads Soccer Complex (Soccer) might be best.
Hotels
* We will help serve meals to the athletes and their families at the below listed hotels. There are updated numbers for council volunteers:
* Double Tree (1900 Pavilion Dr) - 8 people
* Holiday Inn North Beach (3900 Atlantic Ave) - 8 people
* Courtyard North (3737 Atlantic Ave) - 4 people
* Courtyard South (2501 Atlantic Ave) - 4 people
* The original ask was 10, so if you get more that is fine and it will still work Volunteers
* SOVA is working on links for volunteers to sign up for event and hotel meal support. We will pass those along when we receive them.

Event Guide
* An event guide is in development and will be provided once completed.

Faithful Navigators and Color Corp Commanders,

The athletic events are planned to start about 1pm on Saturday afternoon. As indicated above, each event will have its own mini-Opening Ceremony. We are still working out the details of what is really needed, with regard to Sir Knights in ORD. We also need to determine flag requirements, as some venues have flags, and some do not.

I would think the Volley Ball, Bocce and Pickle Ball will have a combined mini-Opening Ceremony, however, a more detailed time for each ceremony is still to come. Sports will start around 1pm Saturday.

For opening night, it would be good to have at least 8-10 Sir Knights at the Aquarium as a welcome group. Attire would be assembly shirts.

I would expect we will need at least 4 Sir Knights at each venue to present the colors to greet the athletes. More to follow on requirements.

Please coordinate with Regional Marshall Ed Nettleton and let him know how many Sir Knights from your assembly can participate.

Have Faith and Fear Not - Everything we do, we do for the athletes.

Best regards,

Earl Reid FDD/PGK/PFN

Frank Green PGK/PFN