Berkshires Welcomes Bay State Games
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| Christmas Brook Figure Skating Club [file] |
That's the word from Peter Cohenno, director of communications for the annual Bay State Games.
"The games are still on," said Cohenno this morning. "We don't anticipate having to cancel any events."
Freezing rain and snow moving into the region during the day caused a rash on school cancellations throughout the region. The storm is expected to linger into the early morning hours.
As of early this afternoon, that wasn't affecting the start of the games, which brings more than 800 athletes who have ranged in age from 5 to 80-plus to the Berkshires for skating, skiing and hockey.
The amateur competition has proved a springboard more than once for Olympic medalists, including Nancy Kerrigan in 1985. The games' mission is to promote personal development, education, fitness, teamwork and sportsmanship through athletic competitions and scholarship programs for the people of Massachusetts, according to its organizer, the Massachusetts Amateur Sports Foundation.
Girls' and women's figure skating in U.S. Figure Skating and International Skating Institute competition begins at 2 p.m. at Lansing Chapman Rink at Williams College and runs until 8:30. Some 16 freestyle and artistic events are scheduled.
Master's hockey hits the ice at 3:30 p.m. today as the Lynnfield Old T's take on the Hingham Habs in the Over-50 Division at Vietnam Veterans Memorial Skating Rink on South Church Street. Games continue until 11 p.m. and pick up again at 7:30 tomorrow morning. The daylong competition will take a break from 2 to 4 on Saturday for a public skate.
The gold medal games begin at 10:45 a.m. on Sunday for the Over-50 division and at 12:15 for the Over-40 Division.
Figure skating continues at Lansing Chapman from 8 to 5. Volunteers and VIPs have been invited to attend a party after the competition at the Williams Inn. The Sunday competition begins at 8 a.m. and ends at 7 p.m.
The figure skating show from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. on Saturday will feature top finishers from the U.S. Figure Skating Association New England Championships, the ISI District Championships and the 2007 State Games of America as well as selected medal winners from the 2008 competition.
While entrance to the games is free, admission to the figure skating show Saturday night is $10.
Alpine skiing, for Grades 9 through 12, takes place at Bousquet Ski Area in Pittsfield beginning at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday. Skiers still have time to sign up for runs tomorrow morning.
The Winter Games began in 1985 and featured some 300 athletes in four sports. The games are held annually in Berkshire County while its older summer counterpart is usually held in the eastern end of the state.
The games draw nearly a 1,000 amateur competitors over a broad range of ages; this, some 200 cities and towns from across the state will be represented.
Local athletes will include the Shamrocks hockey team based in Lanesborough and Christmas Brook and Pittsfield figure skating clubs.
Some 320 medals are expected to be awarded this year to the nearly 800 athletes in competition. The staff of four is aided by nearly 100 volunteers and 50 judges. As of Jan. 23, the youngest competitor registered was 8-year-old Caroline Vitaro of Duxbury and the oldest, Robert Cormier of Duxbury, 62. At least 28 families (two or more members competing) were scheduled to attend.
Along with medals for athletes, the games will present its first Berkshire Heroes awards to recognize local citizens who have made significant contributions to the success of the Winter Games over the last 23 years. The awards are given in conjunction with Greylock Federal Credit Union and Greylock Insurance.
Kevin Cummings, executive director of the Bay State Games, said the first Berkshire Heroes are Marcia Sarrouf, Carl and Marilyn Faulkner of the Williams Inn and Bill Bryce. Bruce McAndrews has been inducted into the 2007 Bay State Games Hall of Fame for his outstanding contributions as a member of the Winter Organizing Committee. He joins Barbara Cece as the only two Winter Games organizers to be inducted into the Hall of Fame to date.
