Law enforcement officers carried the Maine Special Olympics torch through Aroostook County this week leading up to the weekend’s summer games in Orono.
The torch made its way from the U.S.-Canada border in Fort Kent to Van Buren Wednesday, and runners traveled Thursday from Caribou to Mars Hill.
Since its start in 1981, the international Law Enforcement Torch Run has raised more than $500 million for the sporting event throughout the United States, Canada and 35 other countries, according to Special Olympics Maine. Around 85,000 officers participate each year.
The run itself raises a large amount of money for Special Olympics Maine, said Steve Richard, Aroostook area manager of Special Olympics Maine and executive director of the Central Aroostook Association in Presque Isle, which serves people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
“The torch run has been a big part of Special Olympics for many years and [law enforcement] have been dubbed the Guardians of the Flame,” Richard said.
More than 600 law enforcement personnel around the state take part in the run and raise about $300,000 for Special Olympics Maine, according to a letter Philip Geelhoed, the organization’s president and CEO, sent to potential donors earlier this year.
Approximately 50 Central Aroostook Association staff and clients, Special Olympics athletes, community members and law enforcement personnel gathered Thursday in Presque Isle to cheer on the runners. The officers stopped at the Marden’s parking lot to talk and take pictures with supporters before continuing south.
The athletes were happy and excited to have the runners stop to chat with them, Richard said.
The torch run started at each end of the state in the runup to the 2023 State Summer Games, slated Friday through Sunday at the University of Maine at Orono. The northern and southern Maine groups will join their flames together in Orono to open the games, Richard said.
Though no athletes from the Central Aroostook Association will attend, a group from Houlton will, he said. Aroostook County Special Olympics held its Spring Games in Presque Isle on May 19, and local officers played key roles in the lighting of the torch and interacting with the athletes.
“Law enforcement has been a big part of the Olympics program,” Richard said. “Having law enforcement officers at our different games and passing out the medals and ribbons means a lot to the athletes.”
Carrying the torch in the Caribou-to-Mars Hill leg were Officers Sam Fuller and Tyler Seeley of the Presque Isle Police Department, Megan Orchard of the Maine Warden Service, Josh Haines of the Maine State Police and George H. Ferland of the U.S. Border Patrol, accompanied by his son George J. Ferland, a senior at Caribou High School.
Organizers expect to welcome more than 1,500 Special Olympians, coaches and volunteers during the Orono games.
