Worcester County Law Enforcement Officers ~ Special Olympics Maryland Summer Games

Worcester County Law Enforcement Officers Participate in Statewide Torch Run Relay to Support the Special Olympics Maryland Summer Games

Law enforcement officers representing all of Worcester County will be on the run on Monday, June 3^rd at 8:00am taking part in the annual Law Enforcement Torch Run Relay for Special Olympics Maryland.  Their mission: to escort and protect the Special Olympics ‘Flame of Hope’ as it makes its way toward the opening of the 43^nd Anniversary Summer Games at Towson University, June 7-9.

This year marks the 28^th Anniversary of the Maryland Torch Run, a movement that began in 1986 with a handful of officers raising $5,000, and has grown into a true year-round effort that involves thousands of officers and sponsors raising over $3 million in 2012.  Since its inception, the Torch Run has taken very seriously its role as “Guardians of the Flame”, and the Relay is an important and celebrated part of every Special Olympics competition.

The schedule for Ocean City/Worcester County’s portion of the Torch Run is as follows (all times are approximate and subject to change):

Monday, June 3, 2013

• 8 – 8:30am: Pre-Event Ceremonies, 27^th Street and the Boardwalk, Ocean City, MD
• 8:30am: Torch Run Relay Begins.  Run will proceed from 27^th Street to N. Division Street.
• 9:15 – 9:30am: Run Concludes at N. Division Street with Photo Opportunity and Refreshment.

*We will load bus to proceed to Historic Downtown Berlin, for the second leg of the Relay 

• 10:00 – 10:15am: Meet at Worcester Preparatory School for Pre-Run Pep Rally
• 10:15am: Begin Second Leg through Historic Downtown Berlin
• 10:45-11:00am: Conclude Second Leg at Berlin Fire Department (approx. 1 mile run)

*More Refreshments and Photo Opportunities to follow run   

  This local portion of the Torch Run Relay is part of a much larger effort.  Statewide, the Maryland Torch Run Relay consists of four different legs – Eastern, Western, Central and Southern – and throughout the entire week, thousands of Torch Run volunteers

will cover hundreds of miles, eventually converging on Towson where the individual flames will be united in the Final Leg Ceremony and then officers from around the state will travel the final 2.5 miles to the Opening Ceremony at Towson University.  It is there that the Flame is handed off to the Special Olympics athletes who have the honor of taking the final lap with the torch and then lighting the cauldron and officially declaring the 2013 SOMD Summer Games open.

 

 

Our local Torch Run Leg is always very well attended and is by far the most beautiful leg of the states Torch Run relay, incorporating the refreshing Ocean City boardwalk and the beauty and charm of historic downtown Berlin, Maryland.

 

 

Contact the Ocean City Police Department for more information and to learn how you can participate in this year’s event.

 

Submitted:

Ocean City Police Dept.

Maryland Police Chiefs To Take The Plunge For Special Olympics

OCEAN CITY -- Ocean City's newest ocean-plunge fundraiser will see law enforcement leaders from across Maryland start a new tradition with a frigid dip into the Atlantic for the Special Olympics.

As the associations of Maryland sheriffs and chiefs of police meet for a joint training conference in the resort next week, about 150 of them from 88 police agencies will spend Tuesday afternoon running and diving into the cold ocean water.

Though they'll be more than four miles north of the Boardwalk, the event will be known as the Chiefs & Sheriffs Boardwalk Plunge. Only members of law enforcement are eligible to participate. Each swimmer has to raise at least $50 to enter.

So far, police have raised about $14,000 with pre-registrations. Ocean City Police Chief Bernadette DiPino so far is in the Top 5 among all fundraising participants.

"I'm excited about it," she said. "I'm hoping the water's going to warm up a little bit. It's going to be kind of cool to be doing it in Ocean City."

Next week, the ocean temperature will be about 56 to 58 degrees, as long as there isn't a cold snap, according to Lee Gerachis, owner of Malibu's Surf Shop.

Several other chiefs also will participate, including Chief Michael Tabor of the Crisfield police and Chief Scott Keller of the Princess Anne police.

Keller said the annual police chiefs conference brings viewpoints of police all over the state and makes for great interaction among his peers for networking and training.

"It's close to here, so we don't have to drive all the way up to Sandy Point for that other one," said Keller, who also will be joined by his second-in-command, Capt. Warren Gadomski. "We got our bathing suits ready. It might be a little colder than we're used to."

Keller was referring to the Polar Bear Plunge held annually at Sandy Point State Park, in the shadow of the Chesapeake Bay bridge, an event hosted annually by Maryland State Police as a fundraiser for Special Olympics of Maryland.

Jumping into the Atlantic Ocean for charity isn't new to Ocean City. The annual Penguin Swim to benefit Atlantic General Hospital will celebrate its 17th year on New Year's Day.

All the police Special Olympics fundraisers fall under the umbrella of the Law Enforcement Torch Run, the signature fundraiser for cops and Special Olympics worldwide.

Howard County Police Lt. John Newnan, who is chairman of Maryland's Torch Run, said the state of Maryland raises the most money worldwide for Special Olympics and that Maryland cops raised $4.1 million in the 2009-10 fundraising year, which ended in September.

"It's a pretty amazing movement, and we're all dedicated to it in our communities," he said.

Not every conference attendee will be braving the icy shorebreak on Tuesday.

"It's too damn cold," said Somerset County Sheriff Bobby Jones. "I might watch it from a balcony window. I got nothing against people who want to jump into the ocean in November, but I'm not going to do it."

Visit www.boardwalk plunge.com.

If you go

WHAT. Inaugural Maryland Chiefs & Sheriffs Boardwalk Plunge
WHERE. Clarion Resort Fontainebleau Hotel, 10100 Coastal Highway, Ocean City
WHEN. 4:30 p.m. Tuesday
INFO. www.boardwalk plunge.com; 410-789-6677, ext. 103

www.delmarvanow.com

Cops On Rooftops In Ocean City For Special Olympics

OCEAN CITY -- Seeing uniformed police officers standing on a store's roof, some in drag, some dressed in mascot costumes, all of them waving to the crowd below, is a spectacle that could only be for a good cause. Ocean City Police officers and Worcester County Sheriff's deputies teamed up for an event they called Cops on Rooftops. They partnered with Special Olympics Maryland and Dunkin' Donuts to raise money for the organization's Law Enforcement Torch Run. Their goal is to raise $10,000.

Officers will spend 24 total hours on the roof of Dunkin' Donuts at 119th Street in Ocean City. They were on their feet from 6 a.m.-10 p.m. yesterday, and will wrap it up today from 6 a.m.-noon.

"It's a spoof on the cops in doughnut shops thing, it is," said police spokesman Pfc. Mike Levy. "But you know what? I'll come to this Dunkin' Donuts every day because I know they support us and the community at large. I think it's going to be an awesome event."

Just shy of lunchtime, as the helicopter for television station WBOC hovered overhead, a gaggle of officers waved from the roof. Beside them was a costumed McGruff the Crime Dog, and Sparky, the Dalmatian firefighters' mascot. The costumes didn't last in the 80 degree heat.

Two sheriff's deputies were in costumes of their own because they lost a bet.

Heather Horner, an administrative assistant with the Sheriff's Office, decided she would raise $500 for the event on her own. Some of the deputies didn't think she could pull it off and agreed to dress in drag on the Dunkin' Donuts roof if she did.

"They thought it was a joke," she said with a smile.

Horner worked the phones, grilled Facebook friends and hit the pavement. She raised $1,054 in less than two days.

Detective Dale Trotter ended up doing princess waves from the rooftop, wearing a blonde wig, fuchsia nail polish and glittering eye makeup ---- not to mention the false bosom under his Torch Run T-shirt ---- while having a good laugh at his own expense. By 4 p.m. Saturday, officers had raised about $4,300 toward their goal, said police spokeswoman Jessica Waters, who said she was pleasantly surprised by the generosity."People come to Ocean City for a vacation, and they've already spent all this money to get here, all the money to stay here," she said. "Then they come in to get breakfast and they give to a community they don't even live in. It's nice to see people constantly give back."

John Trout, a morning DJ with radio station Froggy 99.9 took to the roof as well. He went on the air hourly to remind listeners that their donations were needed.

"We have seen hundreds of people stop in from all over the country," he said. "There's a lot of generosity out here, from young people driving in VWs to senior citizens, retired people coming up for the weekend. The Special Olympics knows no boundaries as far as age groups of people willing to give."

All seven Ocean City Council members stood on the roof early Saturday for about an hour. Councilwoman Margaret Pillas stayed, though, pledging not to leave the roof until the 20 friends she invited to donate showed with cash in hand.

She also initiated a side contest, starting at $50, to get Ocean City Police Chief Bernadette DiPino to eat a doughnut. DiPino does not partake in the glazed goodies. But, for the person with the highest bid, not only will the chief eat one, she will let someone feed it to her.

This is the second time for the promotion in Maryland, which originated among police in Illinois. Last year, the Dunkin' Donuts in Laurel, Md., and Laurel Police Department raised more than $7,000.

This year, Ocean City joins College Park, Glen Burnie, Laurel and Westminster among the Maryland municipalities with a Cops on Rooftops fundraiser. For next year's event, Levy said organizers would like to see police take to the rooftops of every Dunkin' Donuts franchise on the Eastern Shore.

He lauded Special Olympians for having the courage to go beyond their abilities, and for breaking down stereotypes and the image many people have of them.

"Some of the feats these athletes perform are amazing ---- they're amazing for everybody," Levy said. "Special Olympics gives them an opportunity to excel, and that's what we want to do for them, make sure they still have that opportunity."

Ocean City Police will welcome Special Olympics donations even after the event ends. For more information, call 443-235-4446.

www.delmarvanow.com

Great job!! Sounds like it was great fun too!

Donuts, Cops, And Special Olympics

COPS ON THE ROOFTOPS

Fundraiser for Special Olympics Maryland -- 119th Street Dunkin’ Donuts on Saturday, Sept. 25 through Sunday, Sept. 26, 2010.

As part of a national fundraising effort for Special Olympics, the Ocean City Police Dept.,Worcester County Sheriff's Office and Maryland State Police will be on the rooftop in an effort heighten awareness and raise money to benefit the Law Enforcement Torch Run to benefit the Special Olympics of Maryland.


These brave officers will be on the rooftop of the Dunkin' Donuts waiting for your support in donations so they can come down from the rooftop: Chief Reggie Mason, LT Smack, SGT Andy McGee, DFC Kenny Parr, DFC Dale Trotter, DFC Mike Hickman and many, many more!

Stop by Dunkin' Donuts this weekend and leave a donation towards a worthy cause. Let's see how much in donations these officers above will raise for the worthy cause

They'll be watching and they will be waving to you below....Help them out because when you do you help the Special Olympics of Maryland.