by Carley Litten
The Annual Special Olympics Bowling Qualifier Event for the southwest region occurred last week at Orchard Mesa Lanes.
Over 200 athletes competed to qualify for the state competition, which takes place on Nov. 19, in Englewood. This event has been taking place for more than 28 years.
Including players, volunteers, coaches and families, the event had over 300 people in attendance.
“This time we had 220 athletes,” Julie Fite, the Western Regional Manager for Special Olympics, said. “It is usually a 4:1 ratio of coaches to athletes. We had about 350 people total.”
This event had multiple sponsors and volunteers who help with funding as well as running the event. The financial sponsors covered the lanes and lunch for the athletes, as well as the coaches.
“Our sponsor financially is the Grand Junction Knights of Columbus,” Fite said. “We
have volunteers as well from Collbran Job Corps; The students from there help at the lanes. Some volunteers from Grand Junction Kiwanis Club help to sell souvenirs, as well as giving out the averages and award ribbons.”
Orchard Mesa Lanes was chosen as the location a few years ago and the event has continued to be there.
“I think it was just centrally located for the western slope. It is fairly easy for people from Montrose and Delta to get there,” Fite said. “The size of the bowling alley is nice with 28 lanes. They are such an awesome group that it has continued to be there, the staff is so helpful.”
Each time the event takes place, all 28 of the lanes are filled.
“We have two different squads,” Eric Loeb, the owner of Orchard Mesa Lanes, said. “We have one at 9 o’clock and one at 11:30 and it fills up the house both times. There are a lot of parents and volunteers.”
Loeb, as well as others on the staff, input the athlete’s names in the system for the event and prepared food for everybody.
“We cook pizzas for them; two slices of pizza for each person,” Loeb said. “That’s 40 or 50 pizzas, so I spend most of my time in the kitchen for the event.”
The Special Olympics of Western Colorado also hosts other sporting events in Grand Junction as well, such as the track and field meet in May, which takes place in Stocker Stadium.
