Special Olympians shine as car show judges at fall festival

This year’s car show at the annual Twin City Fall Festival benefitted the Tuscarawas County Special Olympics athletes, but it also provided them with some fun. We can add car show judge to the list of skills the athletes have developed.

A few of the athletes already had experience judging a car show they held a few years ago, so they knew what they were doing and what they were looking for.

“I like older style cars compared to newer style cars,” said athlete Kadyn Cook-Linamen of Stone Creek. He also likes blue, red or white or black cars the best. But if the choice is just color, he likes black. He pointed out a black Saleen Mustang that was one of his favorites.

Cook-Linamen has participated in Special Olympics basketball, softball, and he’d like to get into playing football too.

All the athletes had a wonderful time judging.

“It’s definitely fun getting to walk around and see all the different vehicles,” said Aidan McClain of Bolivar. “Definitely have seen a few things you don’t see every day that are a little more rare as far as cars, and that’s cool.”

McClain was still deciding on favorites early on in the judging process.

“There’re a few options that I’m going between. One was this 1970 El Camino that has 1000 horsepower, and this real nice, tricked out engine and stuff, and then also a couple cool Corvettes, and I saw a Saleen Mustang, which is one of those things you definitely don’t see every day,” McClain said.

There’s a lot to think about when judging a car show.

“The hardest part is narrowing it down, because I kind of like everything here,” McClain said.

In sports, McClain enjoys trying a lot of different sports, but he seems to have settled on a favorite.

“Last year, I did power lifting and softball, but I’ve done pretty much everything from track and field and basketball and flag football, but right now, it’s mostly power lifting,” McClain said. “It gives me something to do and to work for. I’m in the gym, pretty much five or six days a week working out and training for powerlifting. I’ve met a lot of good friends too through Special Olympics.”

McClain lifted more than any other athlete at a meet last year and won various medals through the sports he’s been involved in. He was also on a state champion basketball team for several years.

Emily Erwin of New Philadelphia attended the show with her family, who had a car entered in the contest, so she had to be careful she voted fairly. It wasn’t a problem.

“I like, basically, all the cars here,” Erwin said as she named a favorite 2013 Dodge Challenger owned by Bill Haskett.

Erwin has participated in cheerleading and bocce in Special Olympics and enjoys spending time with friends.

“The best thing is going to be hanging out with them,” Erwin said.

Jamie Randolph, who has a daughter who is a Special Olympics athlete, is the car show organizer and a coach in the Special Olympics program. Her daughter, Anna Randolph, is currently involved in swimming and track. The proceeds from the show will go to help with expenses like equipment, new uniforms, travel, and overnight hotel expenses at competitions.

Randolph made sheets for the athletes to list their favorite vehicle in each a category.

“The kids will look at the different vehicles, look at the number, and they’ll just tell me which number to put where,” Randolph said. “Right now, we’re just doing our basic walkthrough. I’m letting them all look at every car, and then when we walk back through, that’s when they’ll give me their official numbers.”

The sheets are then totaled to determine the winners. A total of 74 vehicles entered the car show this year.

“They’re enjoying it,” Randolph said of her new judges. “To all the athletes who came out today, you all did a fantastic job and were great judges. You are truly the unsung heroes today and are nothing less than amazing.”

More than $1,400 was raised to donate to Special Olympics Ohio – Tuscarawas County.

“I cannot thank everyone enough for their outpouring support for this year’s show,” Randolph said.

The top winner of the Kid’s Choice award was Ron Kail and his 1983 Scooby-Doo themed Mystery Machine van.

The top car was Ted Trosky with a 2013 Mustang GTCS, top pickup trucks was Bruce and Barb Forakui with a 1951 Ford F100 pickup, top motorcycle was Kenny and Jamie Jones with a 2007 Harley, top semi-truck was Mike and Deb Cottrell with a 1949 International, the top street legal alternative vehicle was John Chapman with a 20Go Ford, and the top Jeep was Debbie Allen with a 2018 JKU.

The overall winner was Brad Kirkpatrick with a 2006 Saleen Mustang.