February 27, 2024 • 12 mins
Talking with Camie Powell from Special Olympics about their upcoming Casino Night on April 11th at the Arkansas Realtors Association Building in Little Rock. There will be food, drink, and prizes available to the players, with all proceeds benefitting Special Olympics Arkansas! Get tickets and find out about sponsorship opportunities at https://www.specialolympicsarkansas.org/
Do you have a topic, community event, or civic group to talk about on the show? Email your details to djtaylor@iheartmedia.com
Do you have a topic, community event, or civic group to talk about on the show? Email your details to djtaylor@iheartmedia.com
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Welcome and thanks for tuning in forTalk of the Rock public affairs, community
events, and public services for CentralArkansas from the iHeartRadio Studios in Little Rock.
Here's your host, DJ Taylor,and thank you for joining us for
Talk of the Rock. I'm DJTaylor and I'm joined by Miss Cammy Powell,
the Special Olympics Lady. How areyou. I'm fantastic. How are
you? I'm great. It's sogood to see you, and it's so
(00:22):
great to talk about Special Olympics becausefor those that don't know, this is
a very important program across the stateof Arkansas, across the country. Absolutely
so. We offer two hundred andforty competitions a year here in Arkansas for
people with intellectual disabilities and in unifiedsports, people with and without intellectual disabilities
(00:43):
on the same team in fifteen differentsports. We also do health programming,
so healthy athletes on site at ourevents, health education, and then we
do athlete leadership where we make sureour athletes have the tools to do whatever
they want in their communities. It'spretty fantastic. I've got it with admit
and so many different sports and activities. It's just it's wonderful because in the
(01:07):
back of your mind. I knowa lot of people they're like, you
know, oh, that's going tobe such a sad or such a downhearted
event. It's really not. Itis truly one of the most beautiful things
you will ever see. Our athleteswill exceed your expectations every time, and
when you come out to one ofour events, no matter what your perception
of people with intellectual disabilities was priorto coming out, I assure you,
(01:32):
it will be a much more positive, much more exciting and you'll understand more
about what our athletes truly can achieveand their abilities. And speaking of those
games, I know we got theSummer Games are coming up in May,
and that's going to be a bigtime absolutely so our theme this year is
shine Bright and it's going to beMay twenty third through twenty fifth up at
(01:53):
Harding University. Cool. Now.I know, back in the day when
I had a bike and Bob Robins, an amazing man that he was,
he used to ride in this everyyear. There used to be like a
motorcycle run just before the kickoff ofthe Summer Games. Now, what's going
on with that? I haven't heardanything about that this year. Yes,
(02:13):
we'll have more information in March,but Sunrise Honda helps us put that together.
So if anybody has questions about thedetails, Sunrise Honda can give them
to them. Look for that informationto come out in other forms in March.
Okay, So Sunrise Honda and Sarceyou can check about the motorcycle run.
And then of course the torch runthat leaves out of the Capitol and
(02:34):
goes to Harding. That's a hugeevent that kicks off. When does that
kickoff? So May twentieth, Onthat Monday, law enforcement from all over
the state will start running the Flameof Hope in and we call that the
four Corners. Then they will meeton the Capitol steps on the twenty third
at nine point thirty. They willbring all those torches together and then create
(02:54):
what's called the final Leg, carryingthe Flame of Hope all the way to
Harding University for opening ceremonies. Andthat is a beautiful thing at the Capitol.
If you get a chance to checkit out, it's always a lot
of fun. And then of coursethe Summer Games will be a three day
event at Hearting this year, yes, and we'll have about six sports and
two thousand athletes and their coaches.They're given it. They're all trying to
(03:15):
get that gold medal. And I'lltell you what, it is so much
fun to see all these kids fromright here in Arkansas, kids and adults
alike. We'll be competing in differentclasses and competitions, but it's just so
much fun to see them all competingand see them out there given their best.
Absolutely, we always need fans inthe stands so everybody can come out
(03:36):
for an hour, walk around andcheer our athletes on. We have everything
from our young athletes competition for twoto seven year olds, and then of
course eight and up is traditional competitionsand it's fantastic. If you get the
chance, you definitely need to go. And on top of that, I
do want to point out that allof these athletes Special Olympics helps them get
there, helps them train, helpsthem do all of these things. Such
(04:00):
a big part of the community thatSpecial Olympics helping out are our friends and
neighbors here in Arkansas. Absolutely,our athletes do not pay anything to come
and compete. And then, likeyou said, we do all of our
healthy athletes programming for free. Theleadership and then all of the training that
we provide to them so their familiesand themselves can compete and get engaged in
(04:25):
the program in their community. Andthey don't have to worry about breaking their
budget. They don't have to worryabout whether or not they can afford this
or that. It is all takencare of now. If somebody wants to
just donate in the traditional sense,they can go to the website and they
can make a monetary donation. Rightabsolutely, anybody can go to Special Olympics
Arkansas dot org and make a donation, or if they have questions or want
(04:48):
to contribute to Summer Games specifically,they can look me up and I'll help
them out. And there's also informationon there about how to volunteer with Special
Olympics. There's details about different programsthat they offer. Maybe you know somebody
that would like to be a partof Special Olympics. All the details are
on that website. Again, whatwas that Special Olympics Arkansas dot org.
(05:10):
Now, the big thing I wantto talk about that's on that website is
the Casino Nights that's coming up.That's a huge fundraiser for you guys,
and so much fun at Casino Night. I'm not gonna lie. It's a
blast, and that's coming up Aprileleventh. Tell me a little bit about
that. Where are we going thisyear? Yeah? So, first of
all, it's in Little Rock.It's over here in Executive Center at the
(05:30):
Arkansas Realtors Association building. Okay.And most importantly, don't you want to
gamble with not real money? Hey, I'm for that. You can't lose
it there and no matter what ourathletes win. But we have blackjack,
roulette, poker, and craps andthere's plenty of tables for everybody. Hogs
Meat Market does the catering, sothe food is amazing. And then there's
(05:51):
with the tickets includes an adult beveragelocation. Okay, that works. That
works now. Tickets are fifty inadvance or sixty five at the door,
and like you said, it includesthe food and everything else and one hundred
and fifty bucks in chips to getyou started. So that's pretty nice.
And are there I know, forthe those that are listening that are big
(06:14):
poker fans and blackjack fans, youcan buy in for more later or how
does that work out? Yes?Absolutely, there are buy in packets that
they can take advantage of. Wealso have this fun will that Stallion Transportation
donated that you can spend for achance to win extra nice and yeah,
people love to do that. Thatis fantastic. Now, I do want
to talk for just a minute becauseI know there are a lot of businesses,
(06:36):
a lot of individuals, a lotof civic groups that love helping out
Special Olympics, and I know youguys have got some sponsorship packages available as
well. Tell me about some ofthose, what they entail and how to
get in touch for that. Yeah, absolutely, well, they can go
to our website and click on thecasino night or email me or call the
(06:58):
office and ask for Cammi and myemail address is Cammi c Amie and then
that at Special Olympics Arkansas dot org. Again super easy. So some of
our sponsorship levels, we start withthe high Roller at twenty five hundred,
and that gets you some opportunities formore game changer chips and of course the
mentions on the newsletter and social mediaall that kind of stuff, signage at
(07:20):
the event, VIP table location,those types of things. And then all
of the other levels have similar piecesjust kind of what somebody might be interested
in. And then if they justwant to bring a group out and buy
their own tickets, they can dothat as well. There you go.
Yeah, get all your friends together, get your book club or your civic
(07:42):
organization, whatever you got, comeon out and get those tickets and have
a great time. Each one ofthese sponsorship packages, by the way,
does include at least a couple oftickets and chips for the event. So
it's not just your name on atable. You've got the tickets. You're
going to get to see it inperson. Special Olympics is representing you at
Casino Night. And this is comingup this Executive Center drive. Now that's
(08:05):
just right off of right off ofShackleford here, isn't it. That's that's
that big building we're talking about.Right. Yes, you turn where you
see the Heart Hospital on the right. You turn the left into Executive Center
and going down we'll have game changersigns and things like that for people to
see. So it is really afun time and it's all about helping the
kids with Special Olympics. A lotof fun things going on. Like I
(08:28):
said, tickets are fifty dollars inadvance, you can get them sixty five
at the door. Do we expectthis thing to sell out or is there
a sellout point for this? Thereis a sellout point, just because we
want to make sure everybody has roomat the table for a gamble. And
I'd like to see that. Soeverybody just get those tickets and let's see
(08:48):
it sell out absolutely. And againthat is the website One More Time Special
Olympics Arkansas dot org. Okay,and you can go by there. Like
I said, you can find detailson how to volunteer. You can find
out how to donate monetarily. Thatway if you'd like, or you know
what, pack up your friends andhead out for game change your casino night
because it's coming up April eleventh,the Arkansas Realtors Association building. They're on
(09:11):
Executive Center. You can purchase thetickets on the website, yes, okay.
And is there any way to purchasethem, like in person, if
somebody would would rather do that andnot wait at the door. Oh no,
most of everything is digital. Wedon't have the paper copies. But
if they're having trouble or they're youknow, not interested in going to the
website, they can give me acall. Okay, fair enough. Yeah,
(09:33):
Because there there are those few thatjust just don't like, you know,
getting the tickets on the on thewebsite or trying. Yeah, I
haven't had a printer at my housein years, so it's one of those
things. But definitely gonna be alot of fun. April eleventh, mark
your calendar, get those tickets andhelp out with special Olympics. Also,
I do want to run it pastone more time. The Summer Games coming
(09:56):
up in May, that's all goingto kick off. There's gonna be a
motorcycle run Sunrise Honda should have detailson that. The Torch Run will finish
up on May twenty third as wekick off at Harding University and the dates
on the Summer Games are the twentythird, twenty fifth. Okay, so
mark your calendar for that too.Make sure you get over to Harting and
make sure you have a great timecheering folks on, because it really is.
(10:20):
It is just it's a beautiful thingand it's it's so much fun.
Absolutely, and most importantly you gotto come to Casino night then that all
that money is going to go tosupport that Summer Games event absolutely, and
it is I mean very very affordYou get in fifty bucks for the tickets,
you get the beverages, you getthe food. I mean, Hogs
(10:41):
does such a great job. Thenwe have prizes. Oh nice, tell
me about that. So we havea casino package prize okay, and then
we have Chris Stapleton ticket a yeah, and we have a purse I'm not
going to reveal that they got tocome to the event to see Okay,
my name. And then a coupleof other prizes. And so based on
(11:03):
the end of the night, theyturn their chips in for tickets and can
put them in little buckets and thenwe draw. So the more you win,
the more chance to win those prizes. Very cool, all right?
So is there is there a listof prizes or is it a surprise when
you get there, we will besending the list out. Okay, very
cool. All right, Well,look forward to that and of course looking
forward to Casino Night April eleventh withSpecial Olympics as Special Olympic Arkansas dot org.
(11:31):
Yes, right, okay, sodefinitely make sure to hit that website
and find out how you can helpthese amazing athletes and Cammy, thank you
so much for coming in. It'sgreat to see as always, especially now
that it's warmed up a little bit. I mean, the polar plunge is
fun, don't get me wrong,but it takes a little while to warm
back up from that for me.Absolutely. We like casino night because it's
in the springtime. Yeah, andindoors where it's you know, warm or
(11:54):
cooled you need Yeah, absolutely,all right, special Olympic cards, Cammy,
Thank you so much for coming inperfect, Thank you so much.
Thanks for listening to Talk of theRock, public affairs and community events from
the iHeartRadio studios in Little Rock.Be sure to subscribe to this podcast and
listen next week as we talk tomore guests about public service, local charities,
(12:18):
and events going on in your neighborhood.
Welcome and thanks for tuning in forTalk of the Rock public affairs, community
events, and public services for CentralArkansas from the iHeartRadio Studios in Little Rock.
Here's your host, DJ Taylor,and thank you for joining us for
Talk of the Rock. I'm DJTaylor and I'm joined by Miss Cammy Powell,
the Special Olympics Lady. How areyou. I'm fantastic. How are
you? I'm great. It's sogood to see you, and it's so
(00:22):
great to talk about Special Olympics becausefor those that don't know, this is
a very important program across the stateof Arkansas, across the country. Absolutely
so. We offer two hundred andforty competitions a year here in Arkansas for
people with intellectual disabilities and in unifiedsports, people with and without intellectual disabilities
(00:43):
on the same team in fifteen differentsports. We also do health programming,
so healthy athletes on site at ourevents, health education, and then we
do athlete leadership where we make sureour athletes have the tools to do whatever
they want in their communities. It'spretty fantastic. I've got it with admit
and so many different sports and activities. It's just it's wonderful because in the
(01:07):
back of your mind. I knowa lot of people they're like, you
know, oh, that's going tobe such a sad or such a downhearted
event. It's really not. Itis truly one of the most beautiful things
you will ever see. Our athleteswill exceed your expectations every time, and
when you come out to one ofour events, no matter what your perception
of people with intellectual disabilities was priorto coming out, I assure you,
(01:32):
it will be a much more positive, much more exciting and you'll understand more
about what our athletes truly can achieveand their abilities. And speaking of those
games, I know we got theSummer Games are coming up in May,
and that's going to be a bigtime absolutely so our theme this year is
shine Bright and it's going to beMay twenty third through twenty fifth up at
(01:53):
Harding University. Cool. Now.I know, back in the day when
I had a bike and Bob Robins, an amazing man that he was,
he used to ride in this everyyear. There used to be like a
motorcycle run just before the kickoff ofthe Summer Games. Now, what's going
on with that? I haven't heardanything about that this year. Yes,
(02:13):
we'll have more information in March,but Sunrise Honda helps us put that together.
So if anybody has questions about thedetails, Sunrise Honda can give them
to them. Look for that informationto come out in other forms in March.
Okay, So Sunrise Honda and Sarceyou can check about the motorcycle run.
And then of course the torch runthat leaves out of the Capitol and
(02:34):
goes to Harding. That's a hugeevent that kicks off. When does that
kickoff? So May twentieth, Onthat Monday, law enforcement from all over
the state will start running the Flameof Hope in and we call that the
four Corners. Then they will meeton the Capitol steps on the twenty third
at nine point thirty. They willbring all those torches together and then create
(02:54):
what's called the final Leg, carryingthe Flame of Hope all the way to
Harding University for opening ceremonies. Andthat is a beautiful thing at the Capitol.
If you get a chance to checkit out, it's always a lot
of fun. And then of coursethe Summer Games will be a three day
event at Hearting this year, yes, and we'll have about six sports and
two thousand athletes and their coaches.They're given it. They're all trying to
(03:15):
get that gold medal. And I'lltell you what, it is so much
fun to see all these kids fromright here in Arkansas, kids and adults
alike. We'll be competing in differentclasses and competitions, but it's just so
much fun to see them all competingand see them out there given their best.
Absolutely, we always need fans inthe stands so everybody can come out
(03:36):
for an hour, walk around andcheer our athletes on. We have everything
from our young athletes competition for twoto seven year olds, and then of
course eight and up is traditional competitionsand it's fantastic. If you get the
chance, you definitely need to go. And on top of that, I
do want to point out that allof these athletes Special Olympics helps them get
there, helps them train, helpsthem do all of these things. Such
(04:00):
a big part of the community thatSpecial Olympics helping out are our friends and
neighbors here in Arkansas. Absolutely,our athletes do not pay anything to come
and compete. And then, likeyou said, we do all of our
healthy athletes programming for free. Theleadership and then all of the training that
we provide to them so their familiesand themselves can compete and get engaged in
(04:25):
the program in their community. Andthey don't have to worry about breaking their
budget. They don't have to worryabout whether or not they can afford this
or that. It is all takencare of now. If somebody wants to
just donate in the traditional sense,they can go to the website and they
can make a monetary donation. Rightabsolutely, anybody can go to Special Olympics
Arkansas dot org and make a donation, or if they have questions or want
(04:48):
to contribute to Summer Games specifically,they can look me up and I'll help
them out. And there's also informationon there about how to volunteer with Special
Olympics. There's details about different programsthat they offer. Maybe you know somebody
that would like to be a partof Special Olympics. All the details are
on that website. Again, whatwas that Special Olympics Arkansas dot org.
(05:10):
Now, the big thing I wantto talk about that's on that website is
the Casino Nights that's coming up.That's a huge fundraiser for you guys,
and so much fun at Casino Night. I'm not gonna lie. It's a
blast, and that's coming up Aprileleventh. Tell me a little bit about
that. Where are we going thisyear? Yeah? So, first of
all, it's in Little Rock.It's over here in Executive Center at the
(05:30):
Arkansas Realtors Association building. Okay.And most importantly, don't you want to
gamble with not real money? Hey, I'm for that. You can't lose
it there and no matter what ourathletes win. But we have blackjack,
roulette, poker, and craps andthere's plenty of tables for everybody. Hogs
Meat Market does the catering, sothe food is amazing. And then there's
(05:51):
with the tickets includes an adult beveragelocation. Okay, that works. That
works now. Tickets are fifty inadvance or sixty five at the door,
and like you said, it includesthe food and everything else and one hundred
and fifty bucks in chips to getyou started. So that's pretty nice.
And are there I know, forthe those that are listening that are big
(06:14):
poker fans and blackjack fans, youcan buy in for more later or how
does that work out? Yes?Absolutely, there are buy in packets that
they can take advantage of. Wealso have this fun will that Stallion Transportation
donated that you can spend for achance to win extra nice and yeah,
people love to do that. Thatis fantastic. Now, I do want
to talk for just a minute becauseI know there are a lot of businesses,
(06:36):
a lot of individuals, a lotof civic groups that love helping out
Special Olympics, and I know youguys have got some sponsorship packages available as
well. Tell me about some ofthose, what they entail and how to
get in touch for that. Yeah, absolutely, well, they can go
to our website and click on thecasino night or email me or call the
(06:58):
office and ask for Cammi and myemail address is Cammi c Amie and then
that at Special Olympics Arkansas dot org. Again super easy. So some of
our sponsorship levels, we start withthe high Roller at twenty five hundred,
and that gets you some opportunities formore game changer chips and of course the
mentions on the newsletter and social mediaall that kind of stuff, signage at
(07:20):
the event, VIP table location,those types of things. And then all
of the other levels have similar piecesjust kind of what somebody might be interested
in. And then if they justwant to bring a group out and buy
their own tickets, they can dothat as well. There you go.
Yeah, get all your friends together, get your book club or your civic
(07:42):
organization, whatever you got, comeon out and get those tickets and have
a great time. Each one ofthese sponsorship packages, by the way,
does include at least a couple oftickets and chips for the event. So
it's not just your name on atable. You've got the tickets. You're
going to get to see it inperson. Special Olympics is representing you at
Casino Night. And this is comingup this Executive Center drive. Now that's
(08:05):
just right off of right off ofShackleford here, isn't it. That's that's
that big building we're talking about.Right. Yes, you turn where you
see the Heart Hospital on the right. You turn the left into Executive Center
and going down we'll have game changersigns and things like that for people to
see. So it is really afun time and it's all about helping the
kids with Special Olympics. A lotof fun things going on. Like I
(08:28):
said, tickets are fifty dollars inadvance, you can get them sixty five
at the door. Do we expectthis thing to sell out or is there
a sellout point for this? Thereis a sellout point, just because we
want to make sure everybody has roomat the table for a gamble. And
I'd like to see that. Soeverybody just get those tickets and let's see
(08:48):
it sell out absolutely. And againthat is the website One More Time Special
Olympics Arkansas dot org. Okay,and you can go by there. Like
I said, you can find detailson how to volunteer. You can find
out how to donate monetarily. Thatway if you'd like, or you know
what, pack up your friends andhead out for game change your casino night
because it's coming up April eleventh,the Arkansas Realtors Association building. They're on
(09:11):
Executive Center. You can purchase thetickets on the website, yes, okay.
And is there any way to purchasethem, like in person, if
somebody would would rather do that andnot wait at the door. Oh no,
most of everything is digital. Wedon't have the paper copies. But
if they're having trouble or they're youknow, not interested in going to the
website, they can give me acall. Okay, fair enough. Yeah,
(09:33):
Because there there are those few thatjust just don't like, you know,
getting the tickets on the on thewebsite or trying. Yeah, I
haven't had a printer at my housein years, so it's one of those
things. But definitely gonna be alot of fun. April eleventh, mark
your calendar, get those tickets andhelp out with special Olympics. Also,
I do want to run it pastone more time. The Summer Games coming
(09:56):
up in May, that's all goingto kick off. There's gonna be a
motorcycle run Sunrise Honda should have detailson that. The Torch Run will finish
up on May twenty third as wekick off at Harding University and the dates
on the Summer Games are the twentythird, twenty fifth. Okay, so
mark your calendar for that too.Make sure you get over to Harting and
make sure you have a great timecheering folks on, because it really is.
(10:20):
It is just it's a beautiful thingand it's it's so much fun.
Absolutely, and most importantly you gotto come to Casino night then that all
that money is going to go tosupport that Summer Games event absolutely, and
it is I mean very very affordYou get in fifty bucks for the tickets,
you get the beverages, you getthe food. I mean, Hogs
(10:41):
does such a great job. Thenwe have prizes. Oh nice, tell
me about that. So we havea casino package prize okay, and then
we have Chris Stapleton ticket a yeah, and we have a purse I'm not
going to reveal that they got tocome to the event to see Okay,
my name. And then a coupleof other prizes. And so based on
(11:03):
the end of the night, theyturn their chips in for tickets and can
put them in little buckets and thenwe draw. So the more you win,
the more chance to win those prizes. Very cool, all right?
So is there is there a listof prizes or is it a surprise when
you get there, we will besending the list out. Okay, very
cool. All right, Well,look forward to that and of course looking
forward to Casino Night April eleventh withSpecial Olympics as Special Olympic Arkansas dot org.
(11:31):
Yes, right, okay, sodefinitely make sure to hit that website
and find out how you can helpthese amazing athletes and Cammy, thank you
so much for coming in. It'sgreat to see as always, especially now
that it's warmed up a little bit. I mean, the polar plunge is
fun, don't get me wrong,but it takes a little while to warm
back up from that for me.Absolutely. We like casino night because it's
in the springtime. Yeah, andindoors where it's you know, warm or
(11:54):
cooled you need Yeah, absolutely,all right, special Olympic cards, Cammy,
Thank you so much for coming inperfect, Thank you so much.
Thanks for listening to Talk of theRock, public affairs and community events from
the iHeartRadio studios in Little Rock.Be sure to subscribe to this podcast and
listen next week as we talk tomore guests about public service, local charities,
(12:18):
and events going on in your neighborhood.
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