Special Olympics Summer Games June 6, 2008

UC Berkeley Hosts Special Olympics Summer Games June 6-8

900 ATHLETES, 500 LAW ENFORCEMENT PERSONNEL, 300 COACHES, 1,300 VOLUNTEERS, 5 OLYMPIC EVENTS

The University of California, Berkeley campus will be the site of Special Olympics Summer Games where more than 900 athletes will compete in five Olympic-style events June 6-8.

Country vocalist superstar Collin Raye and world-renowned performance artist David Garibaldi will kick off the Games when they perform at Haas Pavilion Friday, June 6 during the Opening Ceremonies of the Special Olympics Northern California Summer Games at UC Berkeley. The ceremonies, presented by AT&T, will be an exciting warm-up event prior to a two-day competition of Special Olympics athletes from throughout Northern California who will compete for gold in aquatics, track & field, bocce, tennis and volleyball. All events are free and open to the public.

Joining Raye will be local favorite, David Garibaldi, a 24-year-old performance artist from Sacramento. Garibaldi will create his signature 6 foot tall paintings of music culture icons, including Raye, in a matter minutes. Since 2006, Special Olympics has been Garibaldi's charity of choice and his paintings have raised significant funds for the movement.

In addition to the performances from Raye and Garibaldi, the Opening Ceremonies will include the traditional parade of athletes, and morning radio hosts from the Wolf, 95.7 and Special Olympic athletes will emcee the event. The performances will follow our traditional parade of athletes and the lighting of the Special Olympics Cauldron, signaling the beginning of the games.

Competition is scheduled to continue from 9 am- 4pm on Saturday and 9 am-2 pm on Sunday. Events are free and open to the public.

Free.

Official Website: http://www.sonc.org/summergames