LSOG's Current Quarterly Newsletter'sFeatured Athlete is GNOSO's Own Bernice Bordelon
I became part of Greater New Orleans Senior Olympics and met Bernice Bordelon in 2004. A former President of the GNOSO, officially she was “Treasurer.” As I learned about the GNOSO, I learned about her. She is undeniably the most “hands-on” Treasurer to be found. Her participation in GNOSO activities aside from Treasurer, include not only playing the Games, but “making it all happen.”
She designed the GNOSO tee shirt she wears in the picture -and also the GNOSO logo,
Circumstance dictated that she become Track & Field Event Coordinator: As a Track & Field participant she had at various times done the high jump and several dashes, and even the javelin throw. In fact, she holds a GNOSO record in the 50-yard dash.
When GNOSO offered the Physical Fitness Challenge Event, she was Event Coordinator – and a participant as well.
Each year she coordinates obtaining Shuffleboard courts from LSOG. She is a shuffleboard participant and helps the Event Coordinator.
Amazingly, this diminutive, seventy-plus, feisty competitor has taken Gold Medals in the Weightlifting Event.
She is also a participant/volunteer in Volleyball – she has been to Nationals.
Other sports include Softball – as a participant, and as a volunteer for the Men's, and the Women's event.
She has won Gold in is Basketball. And she is a volunteer in this event, too.
She participates in Bocce Ball, leading her team to a Gold Medal in 2007.
Participation in Team Dance earned her a medal.
Selection of Bernice to the LSOG Hall of Fame is testament to the accomplishments stemming from her competitiveness and contributions to the Senior Games.
Away from the competitive venues, her dedication to Senior Olympics does not diminish; she is the as Past Representative to the LSOG from GNOSOD.
It isn't just that she participates in the Games, volunteers to help stage them, coordinates several events in the Games, and assumes leadership roles within District and State Games, but there is some other, impossible-to-define quality that makes her the “glue” that holds the organization together. It was largely through her efforts that GNOSO came back after Katrina. She expects 2009 participation to equal pre-Katrina participation in the Games
Be it an LSOG Board Meeting, Wellness clinic, area exposition, or promotional presentation to various organizations, people marvel that her energy and knowledge never cease. It amazes everybody.
She is regarded as a veritable “fountainhead of knowledge” regarding Senior Olympics District Management, having been a valuable resource in the initiation of the St. Tammany Games, and even the Mississippi Gulf Coast Games.
Bernice is undoubtedly “the Mother of the Greater New Orleans Senior Olympics,” and she continues to nurture the all senior Olympics organizations.
Bill Pryor