Burns Lake Special Olympics organized a bocce competition at Spirit Square in Burns Lake on July 8, 2023 from 10 a.m. till 2 p.m.

Tina Giesbrecht the event coordinator of this special event said, “It was really really hot and we almost had to move indoors and then the smoke cleared up.”

Athletes tried to find every bit of shade possible to stay cool while enduring the heat.

She said teams came from Prince Rupert, Terrace, Dawson Creek, and Smithers for this event. Each group played four games and Dawson Creek won the competition.

There were no registration fees for the athletes and lunch was also provided by the event organizers.

Giesbrecht said, “No participants needed to spend anything for participating.”

Val Wiley commented on Burns Lake Special Olympics facebook post, “Awesome job Special Olympics Burns Lake, our Prince Rupert athletes had so much fun.”

She is grateful for the help from all the volunteers, coaches, and dedicated supporters who helped organize, set up, ref games, score keeping and clean up after the competition.

The Village of Burns Lake allowed the athletes to use of Spirit Square and Purely H2O supplied a water cooler and jugs to keep all the everyone hydrated during the competition. She complemented, “Boy we needed those.”

Coastal GasLink/TCL made a considerable donation to support this Special Olympics and Corridor 16 designed their banner.