Lighting the Torch for Special Olympics

For more than 40 years, New Hampshire Special Olympics athletes have been participating in summer games and the games will start again on Friday at Brimmer Field at UNH.

Some of the athletes and their supporters were at the Statehouse on May 29, to light the ceremonial torch and celebrate the role of law enforcement in raising money for the organization.

Mike Dennehy, a lobbyist and Republican activist, who is also the incoming chairman of the board of the Special Olympics NH, thanked torch runners and more than 60 law enforcement agencies for raising about $250,000. The money, he said, will go towards current events and expanding programs for those with intellectual disabilities. Most people think the program is about sports but it’s more than that, Dennehy said, adding that athletes are more involved in their communities and are gainfully employed than those with disabilities who aren’t involved in the Olympics.

“It’s all about the relationship that we have, in communities all across New Hampshire,” he said. “(When) we engage with people with intellectual disabilities, they do more and are more engaged in their communities. It’s plain and simple.”

Tilton Police Chief Bob Cormier said in the early 1980s, a chief in Kansas started a small run, which raised $500, and started the ball rolling. He said since then, police have made a commitment to be a guardian of the torch for the athletes.

“The athletes so appreciate everything you do every year,” he said to a number of runners who had run from Manchester to the Statehouse earlier in the day.

Gov. Maggie Hassan said the Special Olympics were important because they allowed others to be included and when people are included, the state’s communities are stronger. She commended law enforcement officers and all of the torch runners who have raised more than $3 million for the organization.

Special Olympics athletes Kerry Morency of Bethlehem, who lit the torch, and Suzanne Larsen of Hooksett, were also on hand for the event.