SO Idaho 09: January 2006

Message from Jim and Pirie to Committee

Dear friends,

We would like to thank you for your time, talent and enthusiasm over the past few weeks in our joint pursuit of hosting the 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games. Everyone involved thus far has helped to mold our 'Share the Dream' vision and we had two wonderful days with Jon-Paul St Germain on Monday and Tuesday. Because of your efforts, we learned today that Special Olympics International Headquarters has asked Idaho to submit a formal bid! We have officially moved into the next phase...........making the dream come true.

Below is the official email from Jon Paul, which includes an extension of the bid deadline until March 3rd. We believe those additional fourteen days gives us a golden opportunity to turn a great bid into an excellent bid. The next 34 days will be filled with long hours of work, the building of new relationships, the forging of joint commitments from throughout Idaho, and if we have our way, a great deal of fun and laughter. If we all fully commit and do this right, the world will come to Idaho in 2009 for eleven days and share the magic we all know exists in the Gem State.

At our meeting on Wednesday, we will begin the process of building a business plan that will support the dream. We will look to you and the people you know to take a very active role in the 10,000 things that must be done to submit the winning bid. Enjoy your weekend and wake up Monday ready to go for the gold. If you have any immediate questions, please contact Salle at 229-1115

Thank you again for you commitment to the mission of Special Olympics and the two million athletes and their families worldwide who benefit everyday from being given the chance to dream.

Remember... Share the Magic,

Jim and Pirie Grossman

Dear Jim and Pirie,

After conducting our initial site assessment, Special Olympics, Inc. is pleased to invite you to submit a bid to host the 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games. We understand the effort to organize and submit an official bid from Idaho would be undertaken directly by yourselves. Support from Special Olympics Idaho, Randy Schubert of SOI and the World Games and Competition Department at SOI headquarters is available as needed.

We have reassessed the timeline for the bid process and have decided to push back the submission date to March 3rd. An official announcement of the revised process will be sent to you
this Monday.

Best Regards,
Jon-Paul St. Germain
Games Operations Director
Special Olympics, Inc.
1133 19th Street NWWashington, DC
20036

Special Olympics narrows site list to Idaho, three other spots

Local News - The Idaho Statesman - Always Idaho: "There's a one-in-four chance the Special Olympics 2009 World Winter Games could come to Idaho.

The state has made it to a short list of possible places to hold the international competition. Three other places are bidding to sponsor the event � two spots in Poland and one in Germany, said Pirie Grossman, who is leading the effort with her husband, Jim Grossman, to bring the games to Idaho.

Idaho was officially invited Friday night to enter the bidding competition. Each team must finish a bid proposal by March 3, said Pirie Grossman. Then Special Olympics will narrow the sites down to two by the end of March, and the finalist will be selected in early May, she said.
'It's been so fast and furious ... Let's put the pedal to the metal and get to work,' Pirie Grossman said.

The Grossmans are working with Laurie La Follette, executive director of Special Olympics Idaho, and volunteers to work on each section of the bid. The group will need letters from people willing to help donate and sponsor up to $10 million to support the games. Idaho will have to prove that it can handle the housing, transportation and venue needs of bringing thousands of people here for the games, which would be in late January and early February 2009.
Idaho's bid also will have to show political support from the community. The group wants to hear from Idaho residents and business people willing to put up money or in-kind donations or volunteer in the planning process or during the games.

La Follette estimates that about 2,500 athletes, 1,000 coaches, about 10,000 friends and family of the athletes and spectators, plus the participating countries' delegates could all come to Idaho for the games.

Most of the facilities l"

11:35 a.m. Boise will get to bid for 2009 Special Olympics

Local News - The Idaho Statesman - Always Idaho: "Idaho has been invited to submit a bid to host the 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games, organizer Pirie Grossman said.

Grossman and her husband, Jim are leading the effort with Special Olympics Idaho officials. They showed a Special Olympics International executive around Boise last Monday, and heard Friday that their efforts were successful and they are invited to formally submit a bid, she said.

The Grossmans sparked the idea last month for Idaho to host the 2013 World Winter Games, but when they learned Sarajevo had canceled plans to host the 2009 Games, they accelerated their plans.

Last Monday, they showed World Games Operations Director Jon-Paul St. Germain various sites around Boise, including Bogus Basin, Qwest Arena, Taco Bell Arena and other Boise State University facilities, and Boise Centre on The Grove, which would serve as the Olympic Village for the Games. The group also visited Idaho Ice World and Tamarack in Donnelly"

Our View: Special Olympics in Idaho would be great

Editorials - The Idaho Statesman - Always Idaho: "The Special Olympics celebrate sport, and celebrate opportunity.

What better event to try to bring to Idaho?

The campaign to attract the 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games is exciting stuff � and a prospect Idaho should get excited about.
'Everyone I've talked to has caught the vision on this,' said Pirie Grossman, who, with her husband, Jim, is leading the push to bring the games to Idaho. 'Nobody has said no. You can't put a price tag on helping others.'

The event won't come cheap. If Idaho is asked to bid for the games, organizers would have to raise about $20 million, about half in cash. Making the games a reality would require a community effort, but we believe the community is up to the challenge.
With venues from the heart of Boise � such as Qwest Arena and Taco Bell Arena � to ski areas such as Bogus Basin and Tamarack resort, we also believe our area has the facilities for the event.

We wear our rooting interests on our sleeve, without apology.

Befitting a large organization, serving more than 1.7 million people with intellectual disabilities, the Special Olympics World Winter Games would be a big party. It would draw an estimated 2,500 competitors, and tens of thousands of people from coaches to relatives to spectators. It would leave behind an estimated $10 million economic impact, and the positive exposure that comes with hosting an international event that is all about good will.
Pursuing the games, like the event itself, is an inspiration."

Boise a candidate for 2009 Special Olympics

The Times-News Online: Twin Falls, ID: "Boise a candidate for 2009 Special Olympics"

Boise hopeful for 2009 Special Olympics

KTVB.COM Boise Idaho News, Weather, Sports & Traffic Idaho News:

A local group wants to put Boise in the running to host the 2009 Special Olympics world games.

An official from the Special Olympics will be in Idaho early this week to determine if Boise is eligible to host the events.
It's an opportunity that could bring thousands of visitors and worldwide attention to the Gem State.

The 2009 Special Olympics winter games were to be held in Bosnia, but that recently fell through.
An exploratory committee has literally just formed to pursue the possibility of Idaho stepping in.

Members of Special Olympics Idaho and the committee met outside the Boise Centre on the Grove Sunday afternoon to prepare for Monday's tour of possible event locations and a meeting with an international Special Olympics representative.

Local organizers say if this comes together, they want to make the Grove Olympic village and host events at places like Qwest Arena, Bogus Basin and Tamarack Ski resorts.

About 1,800 intellectually challenged athletes, including several from Idaho, participated in the last year's Special Olympics world winter games in Nagano, Japan.

Organizers say they're trying to put together what would normally take years of planning quickly.
"What various elements of the community have already stepped up in the last three weeks has been phenomenal," organizer Jim Grossman said. "This is an opportunity for our city to be showcased - showcased in the world's media."

2006 Winter Olympics Games Torino Blog

2006 Winter Olympics Games Torino Blog: "A group of people interested in Idaho hosting the Special Olympics 2009 World Winter Games and various state and local officials will meet Monday with the organization's World Games operations director to learn specifically what the state would need to provide to qualify as host. "

Idaho may be in the running to host the 2009 Special Olympics

Local News - The Idaho Statesman - Always Idaho: "Idaho Special Olympics supporters are working to bring the 2009 World Winter Games here, and a top Special Olympics official will tour potential event venues next week to see whether Idaho has what it takes to host the events.

Boise would be the hub for the Games, with The Grove area serving as the Olympic Village, Bogus Basin hosting some skiing events, Qwest Arena or Taco Bell Arena hosting the opening and closing ceremonies and the city-owned Idaho Ice World providing the venue for skating competitions.

Preliminary plans also include downhill and cross-country skiing events at Tamarack and Brundage resorts and Ponderosa State Park. Boise and Idaho tourism officials are excited about the global media exposure the area would get and the economic benefits that would come with more than 2,000 athletes and an estimated 10,000 visitors from 150 countries.
'I'm so excited I can hardly stand it,' said Laurie LaFollette, executive director of Special Olympics Idaho.

'That would be so cool,' said Ben Rigby, 23, of Pocatello. He won two silver medals and a bronze for slalom snowboarding at the 2005 World Winter Games in Nagano, Japan.
It's hardly a done deal though. Boise would have to beat out Reno and cities in Poland and Germany, which also are vying to host the Games. Organizers also would have to raise $10 million in cash and another $10 million in in-kind donations to qualify as host.

World Games Operations Director Jon-Paul St. Germain will meet with organizers and tour the venues Monday and Tuesday. By Tuesday night, he should be able to say whether Idaho has what it would take to submit a formal bid, LaFollette said. A final decision could take another six months, said Kirsten Suto, spok"

Special Olympics official tours Boise-area sites

Local News - The Idaho Statesman - Always Idaho: "It may be another week before Idaho is invited to bid to host the 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games, but local organizers are more optimistic than ever about their chances after showing a Special Olympics International executive around Boise Monday.

'Everything we've learned today has just strengthened my conviction that we can and will do this,' said Jim Grossman, who is leading the effort with his wife, Pirie, and Special Olympics Idaho officials.

The Grossmans sparked the idea last month for Idaho to host the 2013 World Winter Games, but when they learned Sarajevo had canceled plans to host the 2009 Games, they accelerated their plans.
On Monday, they showed World Games Operations Director Jon-Paul St. Germain various sites around Boise, including Bogus Basin, Qwest Arena, Taco Bell Arena and other Boise State University facilities, and Boise Centre on The Grove, which would serve as the Olympic Village for the Games. The group headed to Tamarack Monday night and will return Tuesday to look at Idaho Ice World.

St. Germain said he would return to Special Olympics headquarters in Washington, D.C., to compare Idaho's venues to other potential hosts. He'll decide in about a week whether Idaho has the basic requirements to submit a formal bid, but until then, he declined to say how the Gem State compared with the competition.
'We've got to go back and go through the process,' he said overlooking cross country ski trails at Bogus. 'It is a beautiful location, I can say that.'

Other communities competing to host the Games are Reno/Tahoe and cities in Germany and Poland. The Winter Games, held in 2005 in Nagano, Japan, and in Anchorage in 2001, would draw an estimated 2,500 athletes and tens of"

Special Olympics committee looks over Boise venues

KTVB.COM Boise Idaho News, Weather, Sports & Traffic Idaho News: "Thousands of athletes and an Olympic torch in Boise. It very well could happen in early 2009.

KTVB
A representative from Special Olympics international committee is in the Gem State on a site visit.
A group from Idaho is considering a bid for the 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games.
Qwest Arena has been marked as a possible place to have opening ceremonies and even speed skating events.
"It seems like the moment I stepped off the plane, people have been voicing their support for the event and that's important to us. If it means that other people are already asking about Special Olympics, then we're already achieved one objective," said Jon-Paul St. Germain, Special Olympics international committee.
St. Germain will also visit Bogus Basin, Idaho Ice World, Taco Bell Arena and Tamarack Resort.
The official bid is due next month.
Also in the running to host the games are Nevada, Germany and Poland.
A final announcement is expected in May.

Magazine ranks Boise as 4th best city to walk in

Local News - The Idaho Statesman - Always Idaho

Seven cities bid for 2014 Winter Olympics - Winter Olympics - MSNBC.com

Seven cities bid for 2014 Winter Olympics - Winter Olympics - MSNBC.com: The cities are: Almaty, Kazakhstan; Borjomi, Georgia; Jaca, Spain; Pyeongchang, South Korea; Salzburg, Austria; Sochi, Russia; and Sofia, Bulgaria. The International Olympic Committee will select the host in July 2007 in Guatemala City.

Boise hopeful for 2009 Special Olympics

KTVB.COM Boise Idaho News, Weather, Sports & Traffic Idaho News: "BOISE -- A local group wants to put Boise in the running to host the 2009 Special Olympics world games.
An official from the Special Olympics will be in Idaho early this week to determine if Boise is eligible to host the events.
It's an opportunity that could bring thousands of visitors and worldwide attention to the Gem State. "