[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 20]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 26789]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




        RECOGNIZING SITRIN HEALTH CARE'S WHEELCHAIR CURLING TEAM

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                         HON. MICHAEL A. ARCURI

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, November 4, 2009

  Mr. ARCURI. Madam Speaker, I rise today in recognition of Sitrin 
Health Care's wheelchair curling team, which will represent the United 
States as Team USA at the 2010 Paralympic Games. Today marks the 100-
day countdown to the games set to begin March 12, 2010 in Vancouver, 
B.C.
  Sitrin's team has earned worldwide attention over the last few years, 
winning the bronze medal at the 2008 World Wheelchair Curling 
Championships in Switzerland and narrowly missing the bronze in the 
2009 World Wheelchair Curling Championship held in Vancouver. In 
preparation for next year's competition, Team USA has been practicing 
at the Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, New York, and competing 
internationally in Norway and Scotland.
  The team's impressive record of achievement owes to Sitrin's Success 
Through Adaptive Recreation and Sports (STARS) program, created in 2001 
to provide individuals with physical disabilities opportunities to 
engage in a variety of sports on a recreational or competitive basis. 
In addition to curling, the STARS program includes adaptive golf, 
wheelchair basketball, adaptive paddling and wheelchair road racing. 
Sitrin, located in my district in New Hartford, New York, operates the 
wheelchair curling program in partnership with the Utica Curling Club 
in Whitesboro, New York.
  Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating 
Sitrin's wheelchair curling team on its accomplishments to date, and in 
wishing the athletes luck in the upcoming Paralympic games. Sitrin's 
paralympians are an inspiration to athletes across our nation, and I 
look forward to following their success in Vancouver.

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