March 2016, Issue Number 7
    

                    

 

 
     

Welcome to the
Knights of Columbus
Special Olympics e-Newsletter

         

You will find here the latest information on the Knights of Columbus Flag Relay for Special Olympics in Ontario

    
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FEATURE ARTICLE

 
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FEBRUARY 1 - 29

24 DISTRICTS

Sudbury

2016 KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS

Guelph

       
  
      
    
Three Special Olympians, Community 
Coordinator Lynne Houle and a Fourth Degree Honour Guard were in attendance
         
 
A flag signing ceremony at Tom Davies Square where it was signed  by Greater Sudbury Deputy Mayor Al Sizer.
  

 FLAG RELAY FOR SPECIAL OLYMPICS
(January 4th to June 2nd)
 
                                                 
                                            

         

The Knights present a cheque to Chief Jeff DeRuyter of the Guelph Police Service.
      

The flag at a Second Degree
  conducted Basilica of Our Lady Immaculate in Guelph. 
    

The Special Olympics flag made  
 an appearance at the Guelph Police Service Building. 
  

Ottawa

THE KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS FLAG RELAY

Belleville

    

The Special Olympics flag was at the mall where K of C Raffle tickets were being sold by Holy Cross Council 10617. 
  

The Special Olympics flag was at   
 St. Maurice Council 12296.
    


The Knights of Columbus Flag Relay for Special Olympics, is now into its third month, having passed through 48 of 113 Districts in Ontario.
 
 The Flag Relay serves as an umbrella for everything that the Knights, throughout Ontario, do with regards to Special Olympics, be it programs, fundraisers or volunteer opportunities.
   
 It provides us an opportunity to raise public awareness about Special Olympics and our involvement with the Special Olympics movement, both locally and province wide. It allows us to become more involved with Special Olympics at the local level, especially through our support of the Special Olympics Ontario School Championships and Qualifier program.
  
 As the flags continue their journey across the province please continue to submit the pictures of the Flag Relay activities in your area to: joe.mathews@bell.net (website) and KOCFlagRelay@specialolympicsontario.com (social media).
 You can find the latest information and pictures regarding the Flag Relay on our two websites, which are http://flagrelay.com/ and http://kofcflagrelay.com/   .
You can also follow the Flag Relay on Facebook at www.facebook.com/specialolympicsontario.com and on Twitter at @SOOntario
  
                 

    

      

The Knights and Special Olympics had a Super Bowl/Flag Relay Party at East Side Mario's in Belleville where they sold over 100 red shoe laces and raised $300.
     

Toronto

THE RELAY

Thamesville

   

   

    The Special Olympics was flying in Toronto and arrives at Toronto Council 1388, where it was signed.
     

   
 At the 2015 November District Deputies meeting in Toronto, six Flag Relay kits were distributed to the District Deputies from the six Districts, which will be starting the relay.

        The Flag Relay kits consists of the following items:
 · a travel pouch,
 · two Special Olympics flags, one for signatures and one for  
     flag raising events,
 · a sign-in book,
 · a log book,
 · courier bags for moving the flags over long distances,  
 · markers,
 · flash drive which contains the support material for the relay .

The Flag Relay began on January 4, 2016, where six Special Olympics flags continue to travel across Ontario, by way of six separate routes, over a period of 18 to 20 weeks. The flags will go from District to District, with each District Deputy having it for a period of one week to conduct their Flag Relay program before arranging to move it on to the next District. 
The routes of the flags are as follows: 
Flag 1. Eastern Ontario; Flag 2. Northern Ontario; Flag 3. Western Ontario;
4. Eastern and Central Ontario; Flag 5. Southern Ontario; and Flag 6. South Western Ontario
and finishes with the flags arriving in Durham for the Special Olympics Provincial School Championships on June 1st through to June 3rd. 

   

      

The flag was at the local Foodland store and the Home Hardware store in Ridgetown where St Raphael's Council #8435 were selling their Raffle tickets.
        

Chatham

THE FLAG RELAY PROGRAMS

Peterborough

  

Knights hold a Bottle Drive fundraiser
as part of their Flag Relay program. 
  
Representing the City was municipal councillor Mike Bondy, who is a member of the Knights of Columbus.
    

The Special Olympics flag raising ceremony was held at Chatham City Hall.

  

The District Deputies, having received the schedules for the six flags, were invited, along with the assistance of their Councils, local Special Olympics, Squires and others, to plan the activities for when the flag arrives in each of their Districts. Since this was the first time that a Flag Relay for Special Olympics has been done, there was no previous experience as to what was to be expected, thus each individual Flag Relay program was left up to the District Deputy to decide what the program for the week would be. The District Deputies were basically asked to have people sign the flag and to take plenty of pictures, which we could use for our social media campaign and to put on our websites, so as to help raise public awareness about both Special Olympics and the Knights of Columbus.

As the Flag Relay enters its twelfth week, the emails and pictures that have been submitted so far, along with the local media coverage,  has indicated that overall the programs have been very successful. Each week Special Olympics has had something to put out on social media (Facebook and Twitter) regarding the Flag Relay and those Districts that submitted material regarding their Flag Relay activities will find them posted on our websites. 

    There have been a number of flag raising ceremonies that were held at a variety of locations, such as
 · City Halls,
 · Police Headquarters and Stations,
 · Municipal Buildings and Schools,
 · Churches,
 · Businesses, K of C halls and residences, just to name few
     
    The flag has been to a number of places, in addition to the ones noted above, such as
 · carried down the main aisle of Church during Mass,
 · at the opening ceremonies of a hockey game,
 · on top of a Sherman tank,
 · Super bowl party
    plus many other examples.

   

The Bishop of Peterborough Most Reverend William McGrattan at the raising ceremonies.
    
Special Olympics Flag Raising Ceremony in Peterborough.
    

Special Olympics athletes who will be travelling to Cornerbrook, Newfoundland for the Special Olympics National Games.

Kitchener

Coburg


 
The Special Olympics flag raising ceremony at Waterloo's Police  
Headquarters. 
     

The flag is signed by Waterloo Police Chief Bryan Larkin, along with Special Olympic athletes and K of C members.
The six flags has been signed by a number of people including members of the Clergy and parishioners, Mayors, municipal, provincial and federal politicians, Police Chiefs, members of the military, police, fire and EMS, Special Olympics athletes and their coaches, Knights and their families, plus the members of the public supporting this worthwhile cause.
     
There were also a number of cheque presentations by K of C Councils in support of the Special Olympics community in their area, such as
 · buying equipment for a basketball team,
 · helping athletes attend the winter national games, 
 · supporting the Provincial Spring Games in Guelph,
 · supporting the School Championships in Durham.
      
The flags have been to a variety of Knights of Columbus events over the past two months, such as
 · Free Throw Competitions
 · K of C Raffle ticket sales locations
 · Bottle Drives
 · First, Second and Third Degrees
 · Council, Assembly and Circle Meetings and socials.

A Special Olympics flag will be available at the Special Olympics table during the State
Convention from April 22nd to 24th for anyone who has not had the opportunity to sign the flag.


 
The Special Olympics flag was in Bowmanville at St. Joseph's Church where Council 6361 made a cheque presentation.

Cambridge

   

The Special Olympics flag was taken to a K of C Free Throw Competition.

  

The Special Olympics flag was taken to a K of C Free Throw Competition.
  

The flag was taken to a Special Olympics 
Kitchener/Waterloo Bowling night,
     

            The flag will also be at the Special Olympics Provincial Spring Games in Guelph
                          from May 26th to 28th again for anyone wishing to sign the flag.   
  
                               

Click logos to go to websites

  
 More information on the Flag Relay program and the various other activities we do with Special Olympics can be found on our websites at http://flagrelay.com/ and http://kofcflagrelay.com/.
  
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The flag was signed by Brant MPP and Speaker of the House for the Ontario Legislature Dave Levac.
        

The Special Olympics flag at the Knights of Columbus Flag Relay in Brantford.
    

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                                    Copyright © 2016 Knights of Columbus. All Rights Reserved                          Editor

Joe Mathews at joe.mathews@bell.net