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Events
- Special Olympics Festival

The Special Olympics Festival is the single
largest fundraiser of the year for Special Olympics PEI. Tickets
to the Festival are $100 and are available at the SOPEI office on
40 Enman Crescent in Charlottetown or by phone at 368-8919. All
proceeds will benefit Special Olympic athletes from Prince Edward
Island.
Organizers caution that tickets will not
last long, especially as the impressive guest list grows. To book
your tickets, contact Sarah Profitt at Special Olympics PEI at 368-8919
or email sarah@sopei.com
2011
Special Olympics Festival Celebrities

Chef Michael Smith joins Delta Prince
Edward Executive Chef Javier Alarco at Special Olympics PEI Festival
Gala on June 22.
May 17th, 2011 - Special Olympics PEI is
delighted to announce that Chef at Home Michael Smith will pair
with Executive Chef Javier Alarco from the Delta Prince Edward to
design and prepare the dessert for the Celebrity dessert auction,
as part of the annual Special Olympics Festival on June 22. In 2010
volunteer Festival organizers added a new feature on the Silent
Auction table – the chance for supporters to bid to have the
chance to be seated with the celebrity of their choice following
dinner and have a very special dessert prepared table side. “This
was a very successful new feature last year” states volunteer
Festival Chair Reid Barnett “and we are delighted to further
enhance the dessert auction this year by having Chef Michael join
the culinary experts led by Chef Javier Alarco at the Delta Prince
Edward.”
Chef Michael Smith, Canada’s best-known
chef is the winner of the James Beard Award for Cooking Show Excellence
and host of Chef Abroad, Chef at Home, Chef at Large and The Inn
Chef on Food Network Canada and in more than 100 other countries.
Currently Michael is in production on a brand new series that will
begin airing in Fall 2011 on Food Network Canada.
Michael is Prince Edward Island’s
official food ambassador, an award winning cookbook author, newspaper
columnist, professional chef and home cook. In 2010 he led the team
of chefs that cooked for the worlds Olympians in the Whistler Athletes
Village. He is the National Sustainability Advocate for Sodexo,
one of the worlds largest food service management companies. His
fourth cookbook, The Best of Chef at Home is a smash hit across
Canada, his fifth will be released with Penguin in Fall 2011.

June 14,2011, Charlottetown, PEI-
Attendees at the Special Olympics 2010 Festival were charmed and
inspired by Mike “Pinball” Clemons as the keynote speaker.
Volunteer organizers are delighted to announce that Pinball is returning
as part of the 2011 Celebrity line up at the upcoming Special Olympics
Festival being held June 22. “It is very exciting for all
of us to have an athlete of such high calibre lending his support
again this year by attending the festival ” states Reid Barnett
- Volunteer Chair of the Special Olympics Festival.
“He (Clemons) is one of Canada’s
most recognized athletes and an exciting motivational speaker. Through
a partnership with the Holland College Hurricanes, we were able
to bring Mr. Clemons to PEI last year. We are delighted that Pinball
is coming back to support our Festival again this year.
It is hard to argue against Clemons being
one of the all time greatest Canadian athletes. Clemons holds the
world record for most career all-purpose yards by a professional
football player with 25,396 yards. He also boasts three Grey Cup
Championships as a player and one as a head coach, and was twice
the recipient of the Tom Pate award, which goes to the player who
demonstrates outstanding sportsmanship and contribution to both
the team and the community.
Aside from his outstanding athletic career, Clemons is also well
known for his exuberant personality as a motivational speaker and
also for his commitment to community work. His organization, the
Michael “Pinball” Clemons Foundation raises money for
several charitable organizations, as well as providing scholarships
for underprivileged post-secondary students, and now he will be
returning to Prince Edward Island to help raise money for Special
Olympics PEI.
Tickets to the fundraising gala are $100
and are available at the SOPEI office on 40 Enman Crescent or by
phone at 368-8919. The ticket holder will have the opportunity to
mingle with the stars at a private dinner and a live and silent
auction. All proceeds will benefit Special Olympic athletes from
Prince Edward Island.
Clemons adds to the growing list of confirmed
celebrities which now include: Toronto Maple Leafs Captain Dion
Phaneuf , Chef Michael Smith, John Tavares, Gordie Dwyer, Canada
Games gold medalist Alyssa Chapman. Special Olympics female athlete
of the year Amber Metcalfe and famed CTV Atlantic announcer Paul
Hollingsworth.
Volunteer organizers caution that tickets
will not last long, especially as the impressive guest list grows.
For this once in a lifetime opportunity contact Sarah Profitt at
Special Olympics PEI at 368-8919 or email
sarah@sopei.com

Dion Phaneuf returns to celebrity
line up at 2011 Special Olympics Festival
Special Olympics PEI is delighted to welcome
Toronto Maple Leafs Captain Dion Phaneuf back to the 22nd Special
Olympic Festival. Phaneuf was drafted ninth overall in the 2003
NHL Entry Draft by the Calgary Flames, and made his NHL debut in
2005 after a four year junior career with the Red Deer Rebels of
the Western Hockey League in which he was twice named the Defenseman
of the Year. He set a Flames record for most goals by a first-year
defenseman and was named a finalist for the Calder Memorial Trophy
as top rookie in 2005–06. Two years later, he was a finalist
for the James Norris Memorial Trophy as top defenseman, though he
did not win either award. Phaneuf is a two-time NHL All-Star. He
has represented Canada internationally three times in his career,
winning silver and gold medals at the World Junior Hockey Championship
in 2004 and 2005 respectively, and a gold medal at the 2007 Men's
World Ice Hockey Championships.
These celebrities join a growing list which
includes: TSN’s Gino Reda; CFL veteran Adriano Belli- “The
Kissing Bandit”, SOPEI male and female athletes of the year
Amber Metcalfe and Greg St. John; and Special Olympics athlete and
2011 Canada Games gold medalist Alyssa Chapman.
The June 22 Festival is the largest fundraiser
for Special Olympics PEI. The event consists of a luncheon in Summerside
and a Gala dinner at the Delta Prince Edward in Charlottetown.

21 year old Canadian hockey phenomenon
John Tavares joins Celebrities at June 22 Special Olympics Festival
Special Olympics PEI is delighted to announce
that John Tavares - the Canadian Major Junior Player of the Year
in 2006-07 and #1 draft pick of 2009 will join the celebrity lineup
at the 22nd Special Olympic Festival on June 22.
“John Tavares has been a hockey superstar
since he was 14 years old” states Special Olympics Festival
Committee Chair Reid Barnett. “while still in the Juniors,
John was named Rookie of the Year in 2006 and Player of the Year
in 2007, a year in which he broke Wayne Gretzky’s OHL record
of 70 goals in one season. He was also awarded the CHL Red Tilson
Trophy for the Most Outstanding Player”. Tavares has represented
Canada at five IHL sanctioned events, most recently, the 2011 World
Championships in Kosice, Slovakia. “We are delighted that
this young hockey great will be joining us this year to lend his
support for our fundraising efforts for Special Olympics.’
John joins a growing list which includes:
Toronto Maple Leafs Captain - Dion Phaneuf; Adriano Belli, CFL veteran
- “The Kissing Bandit”; SOPEI male and female athletes
of the year Amber Metcalfe and Greg St. John; Chef at Home Michael
Smith and Special Olympics athlete and Canada Games Gold Medalist
Alyssa Chapman. Additional celebrities will be announced in the
coming days…
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