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Gastler claims gold at USA Special Olympics

Telegraph - 7/21/2022

Jul. 21—GODFREY — Kathleen Gastler of Beverly Farm has won three medals at the Special Olympics USA Games in Orlando.

Originally from Martinsburg, Missouri, Gastgler won one gold and two silver medals in bocce for Team Illinois at the Special Olympics USA Games. More than 5,500 athletes and coaches from the U.S. and the Caribbean participated in the games this summer.

"I was excited to represent Beverly Farm and Illinois at the USA Games," she said. "Our bocce coach (Maggie Rutenbeck of Bloomington) helped me do my best. I felt blessed to get to go and compete and win the medals I did."

Gastler won a gold medal in Ladies Singles Bocce. She also earned two silver medals: one in Ladies Doubles Bocce with her partner Karyn Mrotek from Palos Heights, and one in Team Bocce with her partners Mrotek, Kenny Ogden and Frank Kajdanowski. Ogden and Kajdanowski are both from Chicago.

A Beverly Farm resident since 2011, Gastner currently lives in a group home setting on Beverly Farm's Godfrey campus. She has been playing bocce for 10 years.

"Kathleen trained countless hours to hone her craft of bocce, and set her goal and achieved it with determination and pure grace," said Rachel Lollis, Group Home Administrator at Beverly Farm.

"Kathleen is the first of our residents to achieve a place at the Special Olympics USA Games," Lollis said. "The excitement surrounding her place on Team Illinois was a dream come true, and the fact that she brought the gold medal back to her Beverly Farm family is unsurmountable. I look forward to continuing to watch Kathleen grow as an athlete."

Special Olympics provides people with special needs the opportunity to have social contact, develop physically and gain self-confidence. Bocce is one of the most popular sports in Special Olympics; this year's events involved more than 300 athletes who competed in singles, doubles, team and unified competitions.

Beverly Farm was founded in 1897 by Dr. William H.C. Smith and his wife, Elizabeth, to establish a caring home that included socialization, proper medical care, healthy diet, physical exercise, education, recreation and meaningful work for people living with developmental disabilities. Today more than 300 individuals call Beverly Farm home. The planned community includes homes, a recreation center with a pool, an equestrian center, medical services, therapies and other features.

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