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As Connecticut Special Olympics Winter Games begin, here’s who makes the snow possible

  • Eversource volunteers Joe Langer, left, and Vinny Cellilli monitor snow...

    STEPHEN DUNN/special to the Cour / Special to the Courant

    Eversource volunteers Joe Langer, left, and Vinny Cellilli monitor snow making machines while making snow to be used in the Special Olympics Winter Games to held this weekend. The Eversource facility in Windsor where the snow is being made will be the site of the cross country and snowshoe competitions. More than 17,000 gallons of water per hour runs through the snow-making guns. (Stephen Dunn / Special to The Courant)

  • Eversource volunteers Vinny Cellilli, front, and Joe Langer, rear, monitor...

    STEPHEN DUNN/special to the Cour / Special to the Courant

    Eversource volunteers Vinny Cellilli, front, and Joe Langer, rear, monitor snow making machines in Windsor while making snow to be used in the Special Olympics Winter Games to be held this weekend. The Eversource facility where the snow is being made will be the site of the cross country and snowshoe competitions. More than 17,000 gallons of water per hour runs through the snow-making guns. (Stephen Dunn / Special to The Courant)

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Joe Langer started making snow for the Special Olympics of Connecticut Winter Games back when he was still working and his company was called Connecticut Light & Power.

Things have changed some in the ensuing 17 or 18 years. Langer retired about three years ago. The name of his company changed to Eversource Energy. And the site of the snow-shoeing and cross country skiing events has moved from Simsbury to Windsor.

But Langer is still spending about two months beginning right after Christmas turning hundreds of thousands of gallons of water into the snow that hundreds of Special Olympics participants will be skiing and snow shoeing on the weekend of February 23rd and 24th.

“I continued just because I liked it,” Langer said during a break from redirecting nozzles on a bitter-cold and dry — but perfect for making snow — day at the Eversource Energy facility on the Blue Hills Avenue extension in Windsor. “It’s really rewarding. That’s why you do it.”

Langer is one of five retirees who usually put in about 100 hours total making enough snow to cover a 500-foot-long course and grooming it in preparation for the participants. Some years are easier than others, depending on how much snow or rain falls and how much the temperatures fluctuate.

“Two years ago, we were making snow the night before [the games] and grooming it as the sun came up,” said Andy Ouellette, the lone active Eversource employee, who oversees the operation.

Ouellette said the operation is made possible through donations of time and equipment for snow-making, including water hoses, snow guns, grooming equipment, generators and the trailer they sit in between trips to make sure everything is working right or moving the guns about once an hour.

The Metropolitan District also donates the up to 1 million gallons of water that is used each year to make the snow, but for Ouellette, his volunteers are the key.

“If it wasn’t for the retirees, I’d be sitting here by myself trying to figure out what to do,” Ouellette said.

But once the snow is made, the work is still not done. The retirees and Ouellette also help behind the scenes with logistics surrounding the opening ceremonies and the competitions before dismantling the equipment and storing it for next year.

Debbie Horne, director of communications and marketing for Special Olympics of Connecticut, said she believes her organization’s relationship with the company and its volunteer snow-makers is closing in on 35 years.

“Our Winter Games wouldn’t be possible without them, especially with the constant changes in the weather,” she said. “They really understand what it means to our athletes.”

Horne said between the two events taking place on Saturday and Sunday, about 250 athletes and unified partners will be participating and that the public is invited to come out and cheer them on. Opening ceremonies begin at 9:30 a.m., competition runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. On Sunday, the competition will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The facility is located at 1985 Blue Hills Ave. Extension, Windsor.

About 1,000 athletes will be participating in competitions across the state, including: Alpine skiing and snow boarding at Powder Ridge in Middlefield; figure and speed skating at the International Skating Center of Connecticut in Simsbury; unified floor hockey and skills at Pratt & Whitney in East Hartford; and gymnastics at the Farmington Valley Gymnastics Center and More in Plainville.

For information, visit soct.org or call 203-230-1201.

Steven Goode can be reached at sgoode@courant.com.