Final preparations underway for Special Olympics Published May 8, 2013 By Susan Griggs 81st Training Wing Public Affairs KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. -- Team Keesler rolls out the red carpet to welcome participants in the Mississippi Special Olympics Summer Games this weekend. More than 1,200 athletes and coaches are expected this year. About 3,000 volunteers will be on hand throughout the weekend. "This is the 27th year that Keesler has hosted the statewide games," said Maj. Tracy Snyder, 81st Diagnostics and Therapeutics Squadron, the base's Special Olympics project officer for the second year. "It's always important for us to play an active role in the community, and hosting Special Olympics is a great way to do that." Coordinating the games takes several months of planning and coordination. A team of base volunteers began meeting and planning for the event six months ago. "Many committee members have volunteered for several years and their experience and learning lessons are valu¬able," Snyder explained. "Keesler has been hosting the Summer Games for so long that although there are always unforeseen challenges, there's nothing we can't handle. "It takes a strong partnership of many organizations across Keesler, our Navy counterparts in Gulfport, the City of Biloxi, many local organizations and corporate sponsors to make the games happen," she added. "Our volunteers take great pride in their involvement and once the athletes arrive and are hav¬ing a great time, all the hard work is worth it." Teams of Keesler volunteers erect huge tents for food service and the Olympic Village, where carnival games and arts and craft activities are set up for the athletes. Smaller tents are raised for registration and shelter from the sun. Once the tents are set up and hundreds of barriers are put in place, the rest of this week is spent building awards stands, the Olympic Torch dis¬play and receiving and prepar¬ing the refrigerated trucks and 'water buffalos' on loan from the Gulfport Naval Construction Battalion Center, Camp Shelby and the Gulfport Air Nation¬al Guard Combat Readiness Training Center. Last year, it took 40 volunteers just to keep 200 coolers filled with water and ice at the Triangle competition venues. Jackie Pope, 81st Force Support Squadron, has volunteered with the Special Olympics at Keesler for 15 years and is now a member of the state board of directors. "Once you've participated in the weekend, you're hooked," she insisted. "The excitement from the athletes is what keeps me coming back year after year." Click here for a schedule of events: http://www.keesler.af.mil/library/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=19475.