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Components of the Olympic ideal added as Youth Olympic Games begin in Innsbruck, Austria
lake placid, adirondacks, usa – Organizers of next month's Empire State Winter Games (ESWG) will present a menu of cultural and educational programs to complement the competition that will be held in Lake Placid, Saranac Lake and Wilmington from Feb. 2-5.
The activities are being organized by Cindy Barge, of Saranac Lake, whose son Aaron is a member of the USA Luge Junior National Team and a former ESWG athlete. The programs will be offered at 7 PM on Feb. 3-4 in the new Conference Center at Lake Placid. They will be free of charge and offered to the ESWG community, area residents and visitors to the Adirondacks.
"As we model the ESWG after the IOC's Youth Olympic Games, which is now underway in Innsbruck, Austria, it's important that we stress the development of the entire individual to mirror the Olympic ideal," said James McKenna, coordinator of the ESWG Organizing Committee, and President of the Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism in Lake Placid.
"The programs that Cindy has developed will be relevant to the athletes as they take their scholastic and athletic careers forward. The topics are current, interesting and entertaining."
The Aquila Theater, based in New York City, has created an Olympic-themed presentation that will be performed over the weekend. In addition, there will be timely seminars on managing high school education as a winter sports athlete, climate change and its impact on winter sports, college planning for the winter sports athlete, figuring out personalities, lower extremity injuries, and practical exercises for increasing performance.
The award-winning film Small Town, Big Dreams: Lake Placid's Olympic Story, created by Marc Nathanson and Scott F. Carroll, will also be shown on those evenings.
"Each presentation will be informative and concise, with time for questions and answers at the end," stated Barge. "Once again, the ESWG is breaking new ground with these evening events. When it's all over, we hope they will be remembered just as the races are."
For more information on the 32nd edition of this winter sports festival, please log on to www.empirestatewintergames.com.
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Empire State Winter Games sponsors:
Stewart's Shops and its 328 convenience stores in NY and VT; Price Chopper, best in fresh supermarkets in six Northeastern states; Select Sotheby's International Realty, a luxury home realtor focusing on the Capital Region and the North Country; Paul Smith's College, a natural fit for our athletes who have an affinity to the Adirondacks; Correctional Eye Care Network Services, a nationwide eye care company, which recently opened a Lake Placid office; Ski Monkey, a company with an innovative learn-to-ski product; Life is Balance, celebrating activities that balance our lives. In-kind contributors include Clif Bar, CABOT Creamery, Cape Air, Freihofer's and Young Explosives fireworks
Empire State Winter Games coalition:
The Empire State Winter Games is a community-driven event, courtesy of a partnership between the Lake Placid CVB, the Town of North Elba, the Village of Lake Placid, the NY State Olympic Regional Development Authority, the Village of Saranac Lake, the Town of Wilmington, Town of Harrietstown, Town of St. Armand, Plattsburgh/North Country Chamber of Commerce, Adirondack Medical Center, Sen. Betty Little, and Essex County. LPEC Quality Destination, Inc., a subsidiary of the LPEC Visitors Bureau, is a 501(c) (3) not-for-profit, and is fiscally responsible for the ESWG.