City welcomes tourney
After a nine-year hiatus, Special Olympics Connecticut came back to West Haven. The return of its annual Unified Sports Fall Festival and its Fall Festival bocce competition came back to the Old Grove Park bocce courts last weekend. It certainly brought back memories to many hundreds of Westies who helped make the city part of the Special Olympics World Games in 1995.
For those many who remember the time leading up to the 1995 games, several cities participated in the preparation, and none more so than West Haven. It was there that a special bond grew between the Special Olympics organizers and the city’s residents. The last time the bocce tournament was held here was 2015.
While the Special Olympics, state, regional and international, are geared for those with special needs, the competition is no less fierce, focused, and intense than one would expect in any tournament play. The rules are the rules, and the players abide by them.
Hundreds came out last weekend to be part of the opening ceremonies and the competition itself and rekindled the relationship the city has with these athletes and their families.
The city did itself proud, giving a great venue with wonderful support to those competing. It was a day of pride not only for the athletes, but for the city, which, once again, showed it welcomes all and sundry to enjoy our shore and what the city has to offer.
The city’s new slogan, “West Haven: the shore and so much more” really stood up.
Congratulations to the organizers, who came back to West Haven, and a special thanks to the people behind the scenes in various city departments who made it all possible for the competitors.
It was a special weekend, indeed, and one we hope is repeated in years to come.
History shapes now
Last week, the city remembered. As it has done for more than two decades, September 11, or 9/11 as it is called, was commemorated by ceremonies on the Boardwalk. It is there that the attack on that date in 2001 memorializes those first responders who perished, along with the city’s only victim, Richard S. Gabrielle.
It has been 23 years since that day, and a generation of residents have grown up in its aftermath. Like many historic events, this seems like just that, an historic event to those residents. That is why keeping remembrances such as what happened last week is important.
Historic events transform lives, those of us who remember 9/11 were changed in some ways, our way of life was altered in great and small particulars. The events of that date and others must be remembered so those growing up later may understand its significance, and how it changed the world forever.
Too many people like to believe they are unaffected by world events, but we all are changed. The new generations must understand that. Historic events such as 9/11 are not events that stand alone.
The world changed after 9/11 and those changes went beyond the single event. New generations must learn about those events and the events that followed. Only then can they fully grasp the reasons the world is the way it is today.