CARRABASSETT VALLEY – As the sound of hundreds of voices vied with Native American drums reverberating around Sugarloaf/USA’s base lodge Sunday night, Jerry Bourget and niece Daisie-Mae Burpee readied themselves for competition in today’s Special Olympics Maine Winter Games events.
The games kicked off Sunday with a potluck supper, during which hundreds of casseroles donated by Sugarloafers and area residents were served to more than 800 athletes, coaches and family members. The Winter Games are slated to start today, with time trials and other races beginning at 8 a.m. and opening ceremonies at noon. The 500 athletes will have the chance to compete in one or more of five events, including Nordic and Alpine skiing, snow-shoeing, dual-ski and speed skating.
Bourget, 36, and Burpee, 10, both of Farmington, will compete today in a variety of cross-country time trials and races. Despite a recent dearth of snow around Franklin Country, Bourget said, he and his niece have been training at the gym and, on days when there was enough snow to ski, in their respective backyards. Bourget’s father, Douglas Bourget, has been coaching Jerry since he was 6, and Daisie-Mae has been participating in the Winter Games for the past two years.
“It’s good,” said Douglas Bourget on Sunday, discussing training his son and granddaughter. “It’s hair-raising at times trying to keep track of (both of) them,” he added.
Jerry Bourget, who learned to ski when he was in high school, explained it’s the camaraderie of the Special Olympics that has kept him coming back, summer and winter, for the past 30 years.
“I don’t care what place I come in,” in the races, he said. “I just have fun skiing.” He said he especially enjoys “having people cheering us on, and competing against other guys in my age group watching the kids doing the figure skating, cheering them on and giving them support” and, “bringing my niece here to show her all the fun stuff” like snowmobiles and horses pulling sleighs.
Daisie-Mae’s mother, Nora Burpee, agrees with her brother’s take on the best parts of the games. “I’m sometimes sad when they’re over with,” she said. “To see (the athletes) and to see the triumph on their face. It’s sad to leave, (after seeing) all that,” she added. “I kind of wish it would be an everyday thing.”
At a nearby table, the Lewiston-based Navigators team talked and laughed over chicken pot pie casseroles and desserts. Ashley Statsulis, 18, of Greene, Della Lippincott, 19, of Norway, and Brandon Mullen, 21, of Lewiston, said although they have all competed in the games before, this year is the first year they’ve come up to the Winter Games as a team.
After training together three or four times a week since November under the direction of head coach Michelle Roy, the three athletes said Sunday they pump themselves up to race by listening to the cheers of their fans and making each other laugh.
“We’re nuts,” said Lippincott.
Statsulis agreed. “We’re not a quiet group,” she said.
The three will compete in snowshoe and cross-country events today.
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