CARRABASSETT VALLEY – Elizabeth Hebert whispered encouragement from behind the finish line at a Nordic ski event.

“Focus. Relax. Breathe,” the Special Olympian said. “He’ll be OK.”

The Jay High School sophomore’s teammate couldn’t hear her voice. He was at the starting line.

But once the race at the Special Olympics winter games began Monday, the bell Hebert swung clanged nonstop.

Hebert had already won a snowshoe race and stopped to cheer on her teammates.

Hebert wasn’t the only one cheering.

Everywhere you turned athletes were cheered on.

Over at a speed skating event, Newburgh athlete Caitlyn Gunn’s mother, Debbie, and father, Jerry, were cheering from the sidelines of the rink.

“Go Cait Go!” Debbie Gunn yelled, as she watched her 19-year-old daughter in her patriotic helmet skate another lap in the 800-meter race.

Caitlyn has participated in Special Olympics since she was 6. In 2001, the teenager competed in the World Special Olympics in Anchorage, Ala.

“It’s wonderful,” her mother said. “It builds self-esteem. It gives her time to socialize with friends. It doesn’t matter if she wins a ribbon or not. It’s a wonderful feeling. I’m proud of her.”

“It’s awesome,” Caitlyn said after she finished the race.

The smile on her face and those on fellow athletes said it all.

It was their day to shine.

The sun peeked out from its haziness just as the Special Olympians were preparing to line up for a parade of athletes in the courtyard of Sugarloaf/USA ski resort.

Initially, it was only a few athletes that stood ready with their banners. But as noon approached, the line of athletes wearing an array of stunning colors grew as they gathered under the flag-arch formed by the Carrabassett Volunteer Fire Department ladder truck.

It was time.

Each time a team was called: Orono, Mountain Valley, SAD 9, Oxford Hills, Lewiston, Auburn, Lisbon, Jay, Maranacook – the cheers rose as 500-plus athletes went up the stairs for opening ceremonies.

Once the ceremony commenced, Maine’s First Lady Karen Baldacci told the Special Olympians, “We, in the state of Maine, are proud of you.”

“Go out there and meet friends. Do your very best and remember you’re all winners,” said Carrabassett Valley Town Manager Dave Cota. “Above all, have lots of fun.”

As athletes looked up at the deck above, the Dennis and Debbie Dean family of Kittery passed the torch down a line of family members to light the flame of hope.

Members of the American Veterans Lane-Dube Post 33 in Jay presented a check for $3,400 during the ceremony to Special Olympics.

“Hello Olympians,” member Don LeSuer said. “We’re here every year because we love you.”

dperry@sunjournal.com

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