ORANGE : Having a Ball at Meet for Disabled

Timmy Kirby, a physically disabled youth, spends much of his time at the Hylond Home, a residence for disabled adults in Garden Grove. Every year, he looks forward to competing in the annual Orange County Special Olympics Bowling meet.

Kirby’s enthusiasm paid off Sunday as he won top honors in the wheelchair category, bowling 235 over two games.

But as event organizer Louis Jones said, it was a day where everyone came out a winner, as each participant took home a bronze carving with a wooden or bronze bowler.

The event attracts hundreds of disabled students and adults from across the county every year, Jones said. Kirby was among 550 disabled people who participated in the three-day event at Regal Lanes this year.

The competition, which began at 10 a.m. Friday, is sponsored by Special Olympics and has been an Orange County event for more than 15 years, Jones said.

Wheelchair bowlers, using a ramp, played two games, while others bowled three sets, said Theresa Calvin, who works in the junior department at the bowling alley.

The participants ranged in age from 7 to 55 years, Jones said. They include students from local elementary schools and adults in residential homes for the disabled.

The bowlers are categorized by age and bowling averages and then grouped accordingly, Jones said. “This way, a child is not competing with an adult,” said Jones, who became involved in the sport in 1983 through his board and care home, Community Care.

But there was more to the event than bowling.

On Friday, ex-Rams football players Rich Saul and Vince Ferragamo visited Regal Lanes and signed autographs. Clowns entertained the children on Saturday as they waited their turn and watched others compete.