Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach and Manhattan Beach have each been selected as host cities for the 2015 Special Olympics World Games, to be held in Los Angeles on July 21 through July 24.
Together, the Beach Cities will host athletes and their supporters from seven countries.
Redondo Beach will host delegations from Benin, Haiti and Suriname. Hermosa Beach will host delegations from Belgium and Belize.Manhattan Beach will host the delegates from Hungary and Nepal.
The host town cities are responsible for covering the cost of accommodations for the delegations. Hermosa Beach’s Maureen Ferguson Lewis is organizing a mobile handprint wall, reflecting the handprint wall that became emblematic of the city’s centennial celebrations in 2006.
“We thought it’d be a great way to bring the community back together,” Lewis said. “It’s family friendly, and I think when you’re standing in line to get your hand rolled with paint, you get to see neighbors and people you may not have seen in a long time.”
Handprint panels will be placed on the west side of the Hermosa Beach Community Center, at 710 Pier Ave., on three Saturdays this summer: May 16, May 30 and June 13, from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Special Olympics delegations will also be invited to put their handprint their hands on the wall..
The cost will be $10 adults and $5 children. Redondo Special Olympic activities will include shopping at the South Bay Galleria on Wednesday, July 21 and a beach day at Seaside Lagoon on Thursday on July 22. The city will host a multi-city send-off party at the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center on Friday, July 24.
“It’ll be a great way to send these guys off,” Team Redondo committee member Jeff Melodia said. “There are a lot of special needs families in our own area who will be a part of this, and made to feel more welcome and connected to our community. We’ll feel more connected to them too, as a result.”
Redondo Beach Mayor Steve Aspel, a 20 year volunteer for Special Olympics Southern California, said of the beach city volunteers, “These are unsung people who are spending countless hours on this thing,” Aspel said. “When this thing’s over, those people are going to be exhausted.”
For more information or to volunteer call in Hermosa, call (310) 427-5656 or visit LA2015.org/host-town/hermosa-beach.
For Redondo Beach’s events, visit TeamRedondo.org, or email info@teamredondo.org.
For Manhattan Beach’s Host Town events, visit la2015.org/host-town/manhattan-beach.
