INDEPENDENT

20 Years of Summer Games
at UCPLA's Thousand Oaks Adult Day Program
In 1996, the Program Administrator at UCPLA’s Thousand
Oaks Adult Day Program decided that it would be beneficial for
program participants and staff to partake in four major events
every year - one during each season of the year. Instructor
Stan Crawford was assigned to plan the summer event and,
inspired by the upcoming 1996 Olympics, developed an
accessible, inclusive sports competition designed to allow
program participants to compete in individual and group events
tailored to their strengths.
Twenty years later, the Summer Games, as this competition
came to be called, is still a favorite of program participants and
staff members alike. Program participants are able to show
off agility, speed and precision in individual events like Golf
Putting, an Obstacle Course and a Ball Throw.
Teamwork is also on full display with program participants
working together for events like the Relay Race, as well as
with staff members for challenges like the Wheelchair Slalom
and the crowning event of the Summer Games competition -
the Tug of War, during which staff members and clients team
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up to display both strength and strategic thinking. At the end
of the two-week competition, medals are awarded to winners
in each individual and group event and inclusion and teamwork
are celebrated at the inspiring Closing Ceremony.
To celebrate the 20 th Anniversary of the Summer Games, which
will be taking place this year from June 20 th through July 1 st ,
Stan Crawford has invited former program participants and
staff members to take part in the games and reconnect with
their colleagues, as well as invited program participants and
staff from UCPLA’s three other Adult Day Programs to join in
the fun.
Congratulations to the Thousand Oaks Adult Day Program on
reaching this milestone! Family, friends and members of the
community are encouraged to come out and cheer competitors
and alumni. Stay tuned to UCPLA’s Facebook page at
facebook.com/ucpla for details about the 20th Anniversary
of the Summer Games competition. For more information,
contact Edmond Osepans, Manager of UCPLA’s Thousand
Oaks Adult Day Program, at (805) 497-8083 or visit ucpla.org.
Summer Games founder Stan Crawford
(left) with Edmond Osepans, Thousand
Oaks Adult Day Program Manager.
When the Summer Games began in 1996 at UCPLA’s Thousand
Oaks ADP, bowling was one of the original events that
challenged partcipants as individuals and in teams.
Families and community members are
encouraged to take part in the Summer
Games competition.
Left: Summer Games
participants undertake the
Ball Throw, cheered on by
staff members; Right: Each
Summer Games competition
concludes with a closing
ceremony that includes the
awarding of medals and
recognition of the effort put
in by all participants.