Florida Senate - 2009                            (NP)    SR 2798
       
       
       
       By Senator Gaetz
       
       
       
       
       4-00971-09                                            20092798__
    1                          Senate Resolution                        
    2         A resolution honoring the 50th Anniversary of Florida
    3         Special Olympics, recognizing Okaloosa County as the
    4         birthplace of Florida Special Olympics, and paying
    5         tribute to Dr. Charles McFarland and the late Max
    6         Bruner, Jr.
    7  
    8         WHEREAS, in 1969, a group of dedicated educators and
    9  parents, inspired by Eunice Kennedy Shriver and led by Okaloosa
   10  County educator Charles McFarland, founded Special Olympics in
   11  this state, and
   12         WHEREAS, thanks to the support of Superintendent of Schools
   13  Max Bruner, Jr., and the Okaloosa County School Board, Fort
   14  Walton Beach and Okaloosa County 50 years ago became the
   15  birthplace of Florida Special Olympics and hosted the first
   16  Florida state games and the first Florida winter games, and
   17         WHEREAS, Okaloosa County’s Special Olympics Program has won
   18  the world championship in girls basketball and boys handball, an
   19  international gold medal in skiing, and hundreds of state-level
   20  gold medals and state championships in numerous sports, and
   21  serves as a teacher and model for other communities in the
   22  development of physical education and special education programs
   23  for exceptional students, and
   24         WHEREAS, as a consequence, tens of thousands of special
   25  athletes from every county in Florida have participated,
   26  competed, and excelled in Special Olympics individual and team
   27  sports, including alpine skiing, track and field, bocce,
   28  cycling, soccer, volleyball, equestrian, aquatics, softball,
   29  golf, bowling, gymnastics, powerlifting, roller skating,
   30  basketball, sailing, speed skating, figure skating, and tennis,
   31  NOW, THEREFORE,
   32  
   33  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
   34  
   35         That the Senate pays special tribute to Dr. Charles
   36  McFarland as the father of Florida Special Olympics and to the
   37  late Superintendent Max Bruner, Jr., and the other Okaloosa
   38  County pioneers of Special Olympics, and notes their historic
   39  contributions to the education of exceptional students and the
   40  incalculable value of their leadership to Florida's special
   41  children and their parents.
   42         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Senate rises in respect to
   43  Florida’s special athletes who have run the races, skied the
   44  slopes, excelled at the games, persevered in the competition,
   45  and proven by their success that ability is more important than
   46  disability, that strength of spirit and greatness of heart can
   47  overcome adversity, and that performance, despite challenge, can
   48  lift lives and inspire the admiration of an entire state.
   49         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution, with
   50  the Seal of the Senate affixed, be presented to Dr. Charles
   51  McFarland as a tangible token of the sentiments of the Florida
   52  Senate.