By BOBBIE GREEN
The Progress
The Desert Stars Special Olympics team in Mesquite competed in a regional bowling tournament on Saturday, August 21. The tournament was held locally at the Virgin River Lanes in Mesquite rather than having the team traveling into Las Vegas.
Twenty bowlers of all ages participated in the local tournament. The athletes all had a good time bowling and eating their boxed lunches provided by the snack bar at the Virgin River courtesy of the Friends of the Desert Stars organization.
“The snack bar workers at Virgin River were wonderful,” said Desert Stars Head Coach Jan Aslin. “They were even kind enough to write each participant’s name on his/her box lunch.
Aslin said that the tournament went off without a hitch. There were 10 teams of doubles and 20 singles competing. The athletes got a special treat when the Mesquite Firefighters came to hand out the award medals which included 21 gold medals and 19 Silver.
Aslin expressed appreciation to the Virgin River for the assistance and support given to the Desert Stars team included bowling lanes, bowling shoes and other equipment.
Aslin then went on to thank her assistant coaches: Nancy Leary and Theo Christensen as well as Debbie Dorn, the Special Olympics Area Director.
“It is so nice to finally be able to see our athletes again,” said Dorn. “The pandemic has kept us from all kinds of events. It’s been great to see them interacting with each other again. Socialization is so key!”
The Desert Stars have other events planned. On Saturday, September 25, Mesquite will be hosting a “Bowl for Gold” fundraiser for Nevada Special Olympics at the Virgin River Bowling Lanes.
For more information or to register online at sonv.org and click on the “Events” tab.
