It was all fun and games, then the cow arrived.
During the 50-meter dash competitions at the Lenoir County Special Olympics spring games, the Chick-fil-A cow ambled onto the track at South Lenoir High School and began to cause a small commotion.
“We’re donating dessert — we’re donating cookies. And they asked us to bring the cow out,” said John McPhaul, local Chick-fil-A franchisee.
Walgreens of Eastern North Carolina also participated, with employees manning the long jump and softball throw stations, as did McDonald’s of Kinston, Kinston Civitans and the Fairfield Senior Citizens Club.
Students and teachers from Contentnea/Savannah K-8, Kinston High School, Northeast Elementary School, Northwest Elementary School, Pink Hill Elementary School, Rochelle Middle School, South Lenoir High School and Woodington Middle School also joined in.
“It takes a lot of volunteers for the spring games to pull it off,” said Melissa McCoy, the event coordinator and recreation programs supervisor with the Kinston-Lenoir County Department of Parks and Recreation.
McCoy, who spent the majority of the warm, bright morning directing traffic at the track, said the concentration is on providing a good atmosphere for the athletes.
“It’s just a big day for them. It’s certainly a fun-filled day for them,” McCoy said. “The competition part is cool, but it’s friendly competition. They have a good time. It’s all about having a good time and showing their athletic abilities.”
Putting the games together takes several months of preparation.
“I start planning it within a couple months, because we have to contact the teachers, and we have physicals — they need to have a Special Olympics physical in order to compete — they’re good for three years,” McCoy said. “But you know, getting in contact with people and getting everything set up.
“It’s not like a strenuous process until the final week, but it takes a lot of preplanning.”
About 100 athletes participated in the 2013 spring games and another hundred people volunteered.
Wes Wolfe can be reached at 252-559-1075 or wes.wolfe@kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter @WolfeReports.