World Winter Games opening ceremony filled with celebrity moments

The biggest cheer during Saturday’s Special Olympics World Winter Games Opening Ceremony came at the introduction of California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Until everyone realized he wasn’t actually there.

An Australian Special Olympics athlete — a little short on the muscles but definitely boasting the governor’s dry wit — stepped onto the stage instead.

“The governor does so much for Special Olympics all around the world, but he also does a day job,” the athlete said. “So when he called me to help get his message across, I said, ‘Sure.’ So as they say in sports, ‘Let’s go to the videotape.’ ”

Schwarzenegger is married to Maria Shriver, whose mother Eunice Kennedy Shriver is the founder of Special Olympics. He apologized by video to the athletes for his absence, forced by the financial crisis in California.

However, Schwarzenegger promised to attend some of the sporting events that run through Friday in Boise, McCall and Sun Valley.

“I will be there. I will look forward actually to giving out some medals and giving hugs to the athletes,” Schwarzenegger said.

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, perhaps the nation’s most famous mother of a special needs child, delivered a video message about the value of Special Olympics. Palin’s youngest son, Trig, was born last year with Down Syndrome.

Palin then became the Republican vice president candidate on John McCain’s ticket — thrusting intellectually disabled children into the spotlight.

Palin, who was a high school basketball standout, said Special Olympics is a beacon of hope that her son will be able to have similar experiences.

Palin appeared on the three-sided video board holding Trig.

“Everyone worries what the future holds for their newborn children,” Palin said. “With Trig, we have hopes and dreams just like we do for all our children. Special Olympics is going to be a big part of his and our future. We’re a family that loves sports. … Now, thanks to Special Olympics, we know for certain that Trig is going to have every opportunity to enjoy the sports and competition that all of our other children have.” Palin also joked about a line she made famous during the campaign.

“You know the difference between a hockey mom and a Special Olympics hockey mom?” she said. “Nothing. … We’ve got big plans for this little guy, and we can’t wait.”

Renowned saxophonist Kenny G performed a new song during the first moments of the Special Olympics World Winter Games Opening Ceremony.

It was a song written with the Special Olympics in mind.

“This is the only time I probably will ever play it live,” Kenny G said Saturday morning.

The song is an instrumental. He first performed at a Special Olympics event in 2007 for the closing ceremony of the World Summer Games in China. That was a lip-synched Chinese song. It was a spectacle, Kenny G said, but not the most musically satisfying way to perform.

“I wanted to contribute more,” he said. “I felt like I had some music inside me that would be a little bit better suited for the event. … I pictured athletes crossing the finish line (when I wrote it).”

Kenny G attended the daily press briefing with several other contributors to the Opening Ceremony, including Special Olympics athlete Sujeet Desai, who played the clarinet. Kenny G suggested they play a duet in the future.

Desai told Kenny G he practices three hours per day. Kenny G only practices 2 1/2 hours a day.

“I need to add an extra half-hour,” Kenny G said. “I heard you play yesterday and you sounded really, really good.”

Other performers during the Opening Ceremony included Darius Rucker, formerly of Hootie and the Blowfish and now a country singer; Flame, a band made up of intellectually and physically disabled musicians who rocked the house with “I Can See Clearly Now”; Ron Sam, a flutist; MaryJo Mundy, who belted out “I’m Gonna Live” from an upcoming Broadway play; High Street, a local swing band; and Jimmy and Donnie Demers, who wrote a song for the athletes that encouraged them to “rise above your dream and let the best of you go free.”

Speakers included Idaho Gov. Butch Otter and first lady Lori Otter; Special Olympics CEO Tim Shriver; California first lady Maria Shriver; motivational speaker Tony Robbins; 2009 World Winter Games CEO Chip Fisher; and Olympic athletes Billy Kidd, Kristi Yamaguchi, Scott Hamilton, Bart Conner, Casey FitzRandolph and Donna de Verona.

Irene Deely, who owns the Woman of Steel Gallery in Garden City, built the cauldron for the Special Olympics World Winter Games in about four weeks. She finished the structure Wednesday. She put 250 hours into the project and two assistants combined for another 250 hours.

“I have learned so much during the process of constructing this sculpture and thinking about Special Olympians and the obstacles they overcome,” Deely said. “I kept thinking, ‘This seems impossible, but I can do it because of the inspiration of the really gifted folks I am doing this for.”

The steel sculpture of a rainbow-colored tepee is 24 feet tall, as wide as 18 feet at the base and 7 feet wide at the actual cauldron. It was designed by event planners, but Deely added some of her own touches as a tribute to the Nez Perce tribe.

Among Deely’s additions are three eagle feathers on one pole of the tepee, inspired by the flag the Nez Perce hung for festivals, Deely said. The three feathers represent hope, courage and freedom.