Special Olympics holding awards dinner

HAMDEN — Special Olympics Connecticut will host its an awards dinner, Celebrating Our Game Changers (formerly known as the Hall of Fame Dinner) to celebrate its outstanding athletes, volunteers and sponsors and 50 years of Special Olympics. The event will take place Thursday, March 21 at the Aqua Turf Club. Learn more at soct.org, email specialolympicsct@soct.org or call 203-230-1201.

Registration begins at 5 p.m., and the program begins at 6 p.m. Renee DiNino from iHeart Radio Connecticut and Ryan Hanrahan from NBC Connecticut will serve as emcees. The Awards Dinner is made possible through the generosity of the Bozzuto and Calvanese families. This year’s awards and award recipients include:

Hall of Fame Awards: Community Leadership Award – WWE of Stamford; Lew Perkins Coach Award — Francis LaPointe of Griswold; Sheila Schmidt Award — Nancy Hemingway of Manchester; Bozzuto Family Award — The Violano Family of Hamden; Susan Saint James Award — Dr. Craig Edmondson of Sandy Hook; Eunice Kennedy Shriver Award — Justin Mazza of Windsor Locks; Eunice Murtha Award – The Elmore Family of Arizona; Outstanding Local Program Award: Special Olympics Windsor Locks — Mary Jane Hussey, Local Coordinator.

Spirit of Life Awards: Jen Carlson of Marlborough; Jonathan Foster of Bethel; Danny Kenny of Trumbull; Destiny Little of New Britain; Kim Masiello of Oxford; Agostinho Portelinha of Wolcott; Eleni Prtyko of Bristol; Gianel Rosario of Torrington.

Unsung Hero Awards: Lt. Tim Bernier of the Guilford Police Department; Gary Ciccone (posthumously), Greenwich; Julie