New Milford’s Ray Hadden will receive the Special Olympics Eunice Kennedy Shriver Award March 25
NEW MILFORD — Ray Hadden is a Special Olympics champion in every way possible and on March 25 he will be honored, receiving the Eunice Kennedy Shriver Award from Speical Olympics Connecticut.
Hadden, a 1994 New Milford High School graduate, joined the Special Olympics in 1984 as a fourth-grader participating in track & field, the 50 meter run, softball throw and standing long jump. That was the beginning of a lifelong passion.
Today, Hadden competes, coaches, serves as a Global Messenger and on the Board of Directors of the Special Olympics Connecticut.
“When I was in the fourth grade, I wasn’t feeling comfortable with who I am,” Hadden, 40, said. “My teacher, Darcey Olson (Markelon) and school psychiatrist Ed Masiulis encouraged me to join the Special Olympics. It’s given me pride in myself, self-esteem and self-respect. It gave me the confidence to try just about anything.”
The Special Olympics was founded in 1968 by Eunice Kennedy Shriver, the execustive vice president of the Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation and sister to President John F. Kennedy. Shriver had the conviction that people with intellectual disabilities of all ages could participate in and benefit from competitive sports.
The Eunice Kennedy Shriver Award is presented to the Special Olympics athlete who best exemplifies the spirit of the Special Olympics above and beyond the requirements for the organizations Spirit of Life Award. Hadden won the Spirit of Life Award in 2012.