The 2001 Special Olympics West Virginia Summer Games at West Virginia University will officially begin when a Barbour County athlete and Division of Natural Resources officer carry the torch onto Mountaineer Field during opening ceremonies at 8 p.m. Friday, June 8.

Officers will leave the WVU Coliseum with the torch at 7 p.m. and make the 30-minute run across the Evansdale Campus to the football stadium. There they will be met by Anita Phillips, who is playing softball in this years games, and J.C. Armstead, a conservation officer from Jackson County.

“I think this is good for me and the people of Barbour County because this is the first year a Barbour County athlete has ever carried the torch at opening ceremonies,”said Phillips, 37, of Belington.

The purpose of the Law Enforcement Torch Run is to raise funds for and public awareness of Special Olympics. Law enforcement officers from every state and more than 30 countries carry the Flame of Hope in honor of the Special Olympics athletes in their area and around the world.

Several Fraternal Order of Police lodges are participating in torch runs leading up to this years Summer Games, said Diane Chapman, Special Olympics program assistant. They are from Morgantown, Beckley, Charleston, Clarksburg, Huntington, Parkersburg and Wheeling.

There is a change in this years torch run, Chapman said. Instead of officers running along the interstate from city to city, each municipality will have its own torch run. On opening day of the games, the torch will arrive at the Interstate 68 Sabraton exit from Clarksburg, and runners will carry it to the Coliseum.

“The in-town runs give more visibility to the Law Enforcement Torch Run officers and are less dangerous for the runners than the interstate,”she said.

To donate to the torch run, call Chapman at 1-800-926-1616.