McClory: Special Olympics on tap for next month

The Special Olympics Winter Games will be held in Massachusetts March 12-13 in Worcester and surrounding areas.The 2011 games will host approximately 2,000 athletes and coaches, as well as 1,500 volunteers under the guidance of the professional Special Olympics Massachusetts State Office staff.Special Olympics Massachusetts Winter Games consists of competition in alpine skiing, snowboarding, nordic skiing, floor hockey, figure skating, speed skating, tenpin bowling, and basketball, which is the largest of the eight.More than 100 teams and 1,200 coaches and athletes will participate in basketball. Alpine skiing and snowboarding will take place at Wachusett Mountain in Princeton, and I will be there as a coach with my alpine ski team, the “Nashoba Shooting Stars.” This is our ninth year competing and we are hoping to bring home the gold. If you are in the area, stop in to watch these fine athletes enjoy some very competitive alpine racing.uThere’s a lot going on this weekend for outdoor enthusiasts. Hard water fishermen may want to fish the 11th annual Sebago Lake Rotary Club Derby Fest Saturday and Sunday. The tournament is intended to be a fish management tool, targeting both invasive species along with illegally introduced species that are also considered invasive.The event is more than a fishing derby. It is a weekend of outdoor events for the whole family, with over $20,000 of prizes up for grabs. This year’s grand prize for the largest lake trout by weight is a Polar Craft boat from Moose Landing Marina.Second place prize is a $1500 gift card from Kittery Trading Post, third prize is an ice fishing gear sled from Sebago Docks, and forth prize is a Fish a Sled from Sebago Bait and Tackle. The hub of the event is an ice mall set up at Raymond Beach.Friday, Kittery Trading Post will also be sponsoring the KTP Kid’s Ice Fishing Derby with Special Olympics Maine. This event will be held at Range Ponds State Park in Poland, Maine. Registration is free and we’ll also be giving a free ice fishing trap to the first 500 entries.Some the events are ice car and motorcycle racing, snowmobile racing, kids derby, dog sled rides, snowboard demonstrations, helicopter and balloon rides, ice sculpture, kids snowshoe races and much more. Saturday, from noon to 3 p.m., on the ice at Jordan Bay off Rte 302 in Raymond, the Ice Shack Competition will take place.The first prize is a $250 Kittery Trading Post gift card while second place winner will be awarded a $150 KTP gift card and third place wins a $100 KTP Gift Card. Oh, by the way, we are hearing that more and more people are catching limits of good, average-sized lake trout (togue) like never before from Sebago Lake. Most of the fish are being taken from the summer season areas along the shoals and islands.uThe Greater Lowell Fly Fishers will hold an ice fishing tourney at Freeman Pond in Chelmsford Saturday from 7:30 to 2 p.m.The cost is $25 with cash prizes of $500 for first place and $30 for second place. The American Legion on Rt. 40 is the headquarters. Registration will start at 6 am and breakfast and lunch will be available.uAre you planning on a spring turkey hunt here in Massachusetts? Don’t forget to send in your permit with the $5. This is attached to your license and needs to be postmarked by March 15.uDon’t forget the 2011 Springfield Sportsmen’s Show this weekend, the largest sport show in the Northeast at the “Big E,” the Eastern States Exposition, West Springfield, Massachusetts. Hours are Thursday, 3 to 9 pm; Friday 12 to 9 pm; Saturday 9 am to 7 pm, and Sunday, 10 am to 5 pm.Don McClory is The Item’s outdoors writer