[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 122 (Friday, July 27, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1645]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                IN RECOGNITION OF DR. CHARLIE McFARLAND

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                            HON. JEFF MILLER

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 27, 2007

  Mr. MILLER of Florida. Madam Speaker, on behalf of the United States 
Congress, it is an honor for me to rise today to recognize Dr. Charlie 
McFarland for being honored with a President's Call to Service Award 
from the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation.
  The award, presented by former quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner 
Danny Wuerffel, honors Dr. McFarland's years of volunteer service. The 
majority of his efforts have been dedicated to the Special Olympics 
program which he not only created for Okaloosa County but helped begin 
for the State of Florida and even the Nation.
  McFarland took his first group of disabled students to Special 
Olympics games in South Carolina in 1969. After seeing how beneficial 
the program was for that first group of 20 students, the school 
district applied for a charter from the Kennedy Foundation for the 
State of Florida. The charter was approved and in 1970 Florida held its 
first games, with 20 counties participating.
  Over the years, McFarland has taken every opportunity to raise 
greater awareness of the program and raise much needed funds for it. He 
has convinced such big-name artists as Kenny Rogers, Alabama, Reba 
McEntire, Glen Campbell, the Oak Ridge Boys and the late Lewis Gizzard 
to perform or support the local program, has successfully lobbied NASA 
and Congress to allow Col. Dick Covey to take the Special Olympics flag 
on the space shuttle Discovery, and has helped the special education 
Silver Sand School obtain both a new track and pool.
  In 1993, Dr. McFarland was named one of the charter members of the 
Florida Special Olympics Hall of Fame, and has kept serving with the 
Special Olympics even after he retired as an educator in 1995.
  Madam Speaker, on behalf of the United States Congress, I am proud to 
honor Dr. Charlie McFarland for his tireless contributions to the 
Special Olympics program.

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