The day a lot of people in the Quad Counties have been waiting for is here.
The Special Olympics Canada 2018 Summer Games officially kick off in Antigonish Tuesday.
The Opening Ceremony takes place at the Keating Centre at 8 p.m.
Competition involving more than 900 athletes in nine sports gets underway Wednesday, and wraps up Saturday.
Carl Chisholm, the co-chair of the Games, tells The Hawk it’s exciting to reach this point after a lot of preparation.
“Things seem to be lining up for us, the stars are aligned, no clouds in the sky, the sun is shining brightly,” he says. “Overall, a tremendous amount of volunteers have put a tremendous amount of time and effort into this, and it’s all coming to fruition.”
Chisholm says the economic spinoff will be felt beyond the Town of Antigonish and Antigonish Co.; it will impact an area stretching from Port Hawkesbury to Truro.
He says the economic impact for that total area could be as high as $10 million.
Chisholm says it’s an exciting time.
“The sidewalks are crawling with people already, and the events haven’t even started,” he says. “If that’s any indication of what’s to come, I have to say that we’re in for a great week for everybody.”
Chisholm says the total budget for the Games is $2.2 million.
He says funding came from all three levels of government, as well as corporate sponsors.
There are 14 athletes from the Quad Counties representing Team Nova Scotia; they are:
Athletics/track-and-field:
Kristina Richard (Antigonish)
Sasha Repko (Port Hawkesbury)
Hannah Deon (Pomquet)
Roslyn Samson (Antigonish)
Nicole Roberts (Antigonish)
Lisa Leuschner (Antigonish)
Christian Gerro – Antigonish
R.J. Pitts (Heatherton)
Carey Clannon (Arichat)
Matthew Anderson (Antigonish)
Swimming:
Jessica Gillis (Heatherton)
Elizabeth Abler (Antigonish)
Golf:
Ryan Kearney (Antigonish/Team NS flag bearer for the Opening Ceremony)
Bocce:
Eileen Garvie (Antigonish)