Special Olympics West Hartford, which has been serving people with intellectual disabilities for more than 53 years, is this year's Local Program of the Year.

The program focuses on building comradery and sportsmanship, and offers a minimum of two sports per season and Fit 5 and Strong Minds activities. During the pandemic, it did an exceptional job of keeping its athletes engaged and active through virtual activities.

Beau Doherty is the recipient of the Susan Saint James Award. Beau witnessed, firsthand, the isolation and separation that the intellectual disability community experienced early in his career, and this motivated him to become a champion of change.

Beau joined Special Olympics Connecticut in 1986, and became its President in 1993. He is probably best known for creating Unified Sports® and establishing a partnership with the CIAC.

Brandon Knight is the recipient of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver Award. Brandon began competing in floor hockey and basketball with Special Olympics over 10 years ago, but once he started athletics and long-distance running, he took off and never looked back.

Brandon is active in the SOCT Fit 5 Club and serves as a Global Messenger. He won a gold medal in the 4x400 relay, bronze medal in the 3000M and 4th place ribbon in the 1500M at the 2022 Special Olympics USA Games in Orlando.

The Connecticut Elks received the Community Leadership Award. The Elks have supported SOCT through financial contributions, fundraising and volunteerism for more than 25 years. They sponsor and volunteer at our annual Unified Sports® Holiday Classic and host our Super Plunge in Westbrook.

In 2022, The Elks became a year-round Partner Sponsor and Presenting Sponsor of our Unified Sports® school-based program. To date, they've donated over $550,000.

Kevin Grimes received the Lew Perkins Coach Award. He has been a Special Olympics coach for more than 31 years and started the Special Olympics Connecticut Long Distance Unified Running Team, one of the first of its kind in Special Olympics, in 1991.

For over 25 years, Kevin has volunteered as a field clinician at SOCT Coaches Training Schools, preparing runners for local races and national and international competitions including the World Games in Dublin and Beijing.

Will Bergeron and Mariel Bergeron Grace received the Bozzuto's Family Award. This brother and sister duo has been volunteering for the Special Olympics Midstate local program for 10 years.

Will focuses his energy on keeping practices and events organized, while Mariel ensures all athletes are engaged.

Will devotes nights and weekends to competition, social events, and fundraising for Special Olympics. Mariel organizes activities focused on fun and fitness for the athletes, including adaptive Zumba.

The MD23 Connecticut Lions Club was honored with the Golisano Health Leadership Award. The Club has been vital to the success of our Healthy Athletes Opening Eyes program for over 20 years.

Since 2007, Opening Eyes® has provided 3,375 screenings to Connecticut athletes. From 2014-19, over 300 Connecticut Lions Club members distributed nearly 1,000 pairs of prescription glasses, over 300 prescription sports goggles, and more than 700 pairs of sunglasses free of charge.

Don and Deborah Conklin and Barry and Joyce Baiardi received the The Norman Hanenbaum Lifetime Service Award. The two couples have served Special Olympics for over 30 years.

All four are certified track officials who trained others to officiate at the 1995 World Games in New Haven. Since then, the've officiated and supported our regional games, time trials, and Summer Games. They also served as certified track officials for the USA Games in North Carolina and World Games in Dublin.

Chris and Catherine Kortlandt received the Eunice Murtha Award for Philanthropy. The Kortlandts have been Special Olympics supporters for more than a decade and attend many events to cheer on our athletes.

In addition, Catherine is a member of the SOCT Board of Directors and has served as Chair and Vice Chair of the Board. She has been invaluable in helping the organization in the areas of human resources, policy, and finance.

Tom and LuAnn Krywinski were honored with the Sheila Schmidt Award. The couple has been volunteering for Special Olympics Connecticut for over 25 years and are very involved with the Special Olympics Trumbull local program.

LuAnn has been the team's head athletics coach for over 15 years, and Tom, an assistant coach and Unified partner. They've also been assistant coaches for golf and basketball. Tom served as an SOCT Board Member for nine years.

Robin Sorey was honored with an Unsung Hero Award. Robin began her involvement in Special Olympics over 23 years ago as a hometown escort for the 1999 Summer Games.

In 2001, she became a Unified partner and certified coach and in 2017, local coordinator of Special Olympics Seaside Saybrook. In addition, she started a Unified Sports® elementary program at Ryerson Elementary School in Madison in 2015.

Rose Doolittle and George Millerd received Unsung Hero Awards. Both Rose and George are members of a small committee of Eversource volunteers who organize the SOCT Golf Tournament, which is held at the Lake of Isles Golf Course every September.

Rose has helped to run the golf tournament for 15 years, and George, seven. The tournament raises $150,000 annually to benefit our athletes! 

Officer Erin Connole is also a recipient of an Unsung Hero Award. Officer Connole has been involved in Special Olympics and the Law Enforcement Torch Run® for 10 years and has helped raise $70,000 by organizing fundraisers including Tip-A-Cop®, coin drop and designer bag bingo events.

She has also participated in Over the Edge and the Super Plunge - plunging into freezing water every hour for 24 hours!

In addition, Mike Law received an Unsung Hero Award. Mike, a member of the Mianus Chapter of Trout Unlimited, has been instrumental in organizing the annual Fishing Tournament held for Special Olympics Connecticut for over 15 years.

Under his leadership, volunteers served as judges and Unified partners during the event. Mike’s Mianus Chapter also provided all the fishing equipment, bait, hooks, and lures for the event.