Camp Fiesta!

Camp Fiesta started up on June 6th with 130 registered participants. The second session of the camp began on July 11th and ended with the annual Talent Show put on by each classroom. The 2011 camp has had the largest enrollment of any past camp.

75th Anniversary of City of Mesa Parks and Recreation

The Mesa Parks and Recreation 75th Anniversary celebration event was held on Thursday, June 16th from 6pm-9pm at Pioneer Park in Mesa. This event was a huge success with over 3,500 guests in attendance. The event highlights included "Disney Radio Road Show", free carnival games and rides, face painting, balloon animals, community booths, food vendors and a free movie - "Happiness is a Warm Blanket Charlie Brown"- in the park. Arizona Disabled Sports hosted a vendor booth and provided hundreds of free hand-cycle rides to the kids and adults. Congratulations to the City of Mesa Parks and Recreation on a great 75 years!

21st Annual SOEV Track and Field Meet

The 21st Annual Special Olympics East Valley Track and Field Meet was held at Mesa High School on Saturday, April 2nd. The purpose of the event is to provide meaningful sports competition opportunities for individuals with intellectual disabilities. The athletes have the opportunity to gain social skills, sports skills, and physical fitness through their participation in the event. The updated format of running the junior and senior athletes at 10:00am and the adults at 4:00pm worked out very well. The 2011 track and field event was the largest ever with 489 athletes in attendance. Thank you to Boeing, the Mesa High Football team and Mesa Community College Fire Academy for providing the volunteers to support the event.

16th Annual "You Look Marvelous" Fashion Show

The 16th Annual "You Look Marvelous" Fashion Show was held on Saturday, May 21st at the Chandler Center for the Arts. Fifty-two special models from the cities of Mesa and Chandler strutted their stuff down the runway wearing spring fashions from Kohls department stores. Thsi year over 300 guests were in attendance for the fashion show and over 40 volunteers from Kohl's and Earl's Beauty School supported the event. The proceeds from the silent auction and raffle will benefit both the adaptive programs in Mesa and Chandler. The event will raise funding to support the scholarship fees available for Camp Carley and Disneyland Adventure Trips which are provided for both Chandler and Mesa athletes. Congratulations to all of the beautiful models for another great fashion show!

Coach, Volunteer and Facility of the Year award winners

Each year at the End of Season Awards Celebration in June, AzDS presents the Coach of the Year, Volunteer of the Year, Volunteer Group of the Year, Internal Facility of the Year and Community Facility of the Year awards to the most deserving individuals or organizations. The decision is very difficult each year as we have so many wonderful people and businesses that give their time, energy and resources to this organization. Congratulations to the 2010-11 award winners! Thank you for your continued support and dedication to providing outstanding programs and opportunities to individuals with disabilities.

The 2010-11 award winners include:
Coach of the Year - Jamie Oliver
Volunteer of the Year - Steve Schureman
Volunteer Group of the Year - Boeing Company
Internal Facility of the Year - Jefferson Recreation Center
Community Facility of the Year - Farnsworth Dreamland Villa

End of Season Awards Celebration

Over 200 guests joined Arizona Disabled Sports and the City of Mesa Parks, Recreation and Commercial Facilities for the 2010-11 End of Season Awards Celebration on Friday, June 10th at the Red Mountain Multigenerational Center. The celebration includes give-aways for each athlete, awards presentations for coach, volunteer and facility of the year, dinner, yearbooks, and dancing. This years event included the introduction of the new Team Mesa mascot - Buster the Bulldog. Buster will cheer on Team Mesa at all future special events. Go Team Mesa!

Thank you to Carrabba's of Ahwatukee for donating the delicious meal for the event. Congratulations to all of the athletes for another successful and fun season! Go Team Mesa! We look forward to another fantastic season full of great memories, smiles and laughter.

"This Magic Moment" Prom

The cities of Chandler and Mesa joined together to host a Prom Night for individuals ages 16 and older with developmental disabilities. Approximately 95 participants attended the prom and enjoyed a beautiful evening filled with a delicious dinner, dancing, fun memories and a photo for each participant.

A parent send an email to let us know how wonderful the events was, "Thank you so much for a wonderful evening for the kids. It was so very nice. Everyone looked so pretty and the location and accommodations were lovely."

Another parent commented at the Prom, "It is so nice to attend an event where the kids get to eat on real plates and use real silverware!"

Congratulations to Jacquie Gallo and Collette Prather for another wonderful event.

Wiggles and Giggles

This was the first summer that the Mesa Adaptive program offered a summer program for pre-schoolers, ages 3-5 with developmental delays or disabilities. The program was tons of fun and very successful with 16 pre-schoolers who enjoyed socializing with their peers, arts and crafts, games, snacks and music therapy. The kids met four times per week, Monday-Thursday from 9:00am-11:00am. Thank you to Stapley Junior High School for hosting our summer program.