A new community organization is celebrating its first winter in Stettler.
Seeing a need after returning to the community several years ago, Special Olympics Stettler was founded in the fall of 2024 by Lindsey and Jason Delwo.
"We're officially called a community program under Special Olympics Alberta," said Lindsey, in a recent interview. "As we grow and meet the criteria, we will become an official affiliate."
As a community program, Lindsey and Jason are running things themselves to minimize the need for volunteers and other overhead.
To begin with, the program started with offering bowling at Stettler's Heartland Bowl and swimming at the Stettler Recreation Centre.
According to Lindsey, there are around 24 athletes who took part in the winter program, which runs from October to April.
As funding allows, the pair would like to expand the programming to year-round offerings, but that is potentially a couple of years away.
They would also like to add daytime and evening programs, giving people of all ages the opportunity to take part in the programming.
According to Lindsey, being able to offer the program year-round will allow more people from around the region to take part.
She notes that when the program first started, there was lots of support from regions outside of Stettler, such as Castor and even Three Hills, but some of the adverse weather that was seen this past winter precluded people from those areas from attending the every other week activities.
"It's a barrier," said Lindsey. "But when we first made the announcement, the amount of messages I received from the outlying Stettler (areas) like outside Stettler County was a lot."
There is no disability requirement to take part in Special Olympics Stettler, if you feel that the program would be a fit, you can attend no questions asked, and no diagnosis required.
To get the program off the ground the Delwos did a major appeal for funding from the community businesses, who stepped up in a big way.
"There was a lot of support from the Town of Stettler," said Jason.
The program raises funds to keep costs down for the athlete participants. The goal is to charge half the usual entry fee for whatever sport, bowling or swimming, they are taking part in. The funds are managed through the main Special Olympics Program in Camrose, which the Stettler group falls under.
Lindsey and Jason were first connected with Special Olympics Alberta in Camrose after the birth of their son Lonnie, who has Down Syndrome.
Not finding much in the way of community support or specialized services that could accommodate their son as he grew, they eventually found their way to Active Start, a program under Special Olympics Alberta Camrose that allowed Lonnie to get into the community.
"It's not just sport, it's community," said Lindsey.
When the family returned to the Stettler area a few years ago, they found that the service was absent and sought to correct that absence.
Where to next for the Delwos and Special Olympics Stettler? Jason says that with one successful season done, the plan is to organically and slowly grow the program, potentially expanding with the addition of floor curling in the 2025/26 season.
For more information on Special Olympics Stettler, check them out on Facebook.
