It was a day to celebrate the effort and accomplishment of the past year.
Special Olympics Ontario Stratford and Area athletes, volunteers and supporters gathered at Bethel Pentecostal Church for their annual banquet and awards presentations.
Athletes were presented with certificates of participation and some for achievement in respective sports.
Sport-specific awards were presented to Richard Matthews & Kaleb Stiehl (basketball), Phoebe Bootsma (5-pin bowling), Matthew Fischer (curling), Wyatt Westman-Frijters (floor hockey), Russell Hubbard (golf), Michael Mainland (soccer), Meghan O’Donovan (softball C), Cynthia MacKenzie-Baker (softball D), Becky Edwards & Jonathan Lew (swimming) and Bryscon Kelly (track & field).
Russell Hubbard, a 5-pin, curling, golf, and soccer athlete, won the Mark Perrier Memorial Award.
Athletes honoured for winning medals at the National Winter Games include Mike Hitchcock (gold in floor hockey), Mike Kelemen (bronze in 5-pin bowling) and curlers Tiffany Keller, Curtis Bender, Dylan Haynes, Jacob Ponsford and Meghan O’Donovan.
Team Keller (pictured) won gold at nationals in Calgary.
