Passing the torch
Princeton Local 130 Member Detective
Adam Basatemur and his daughter Ella
before the 2015 Law Enforcement Torch
Run for Special Olympics.
Torch Run State Committee Member Sergeant MaryLou Tarr of the West Windsor Police Department carries
the Torch to start the 2015 Special Olympics New Jersey Summer Games at The College of New Jersey.
PBA members describe the experience of participating in the Law Enforcement
Torch Run as it kicks off the Special Olympics New Jersey Summer Games
n BY JENNIFER TRATTLER
To hear the roar coming out of the stadium at The College of New
Jersey in Ewing projected by 2,500 talented athletes on the field,
while family and friends cheer from the bleachers as law enforcement officers make their way in passing the ceremonial torch to
light the cauldron – the official start to the Special Olympics New
Jersey Summer Games – is a surreal experience.
Exhilarating. Gratifying. Humbling. The words keep pouring out
of Princeton Local 130 member Adam Basatemur, as he described
the awe-inspiring experience of walking into the buzzing stadium
for the first time on June 12 – a moment he has looked forward to for
more than a decade of participating in the Torch Run.
“To see all the Special Olympics athletes lined up at the main
entrance in their team colors, clapping, cheering and waving was
heartwarming,” emoted Basatemur. “I’m high-fiving all the athletes
and their faces just light up.”
This is but one description highlighting why the New Jersey State
PBA and more than 3,000 officers continue to show up and support
Special Olympics NJ through the annual Law Enforcement Torch
Run. PBA members work together throughout the year to fundraise
for the worthy cause, before lacing up their running shoes to cover
26 legs and 750 miles across the state that culminates in that final
jog to kick off the games.
Those lucky few who took the victory lap into the stadium were
rewarded with the experience that Basatemur described, along with
the knowledge that they helped make the Special Olympics a possibility for thousands of athletes ranging from two- to 65-years-old.
One of those athletes was Bastemur’s 12-year-old daughter Ella,
who competed in the Special Olympics for the first time this year.
Excited to watch Ella swim that weekend, Basatemur went the
extra mile to make the occasion special for her. Instead of running
with his Local (whose leg doesn’t culminate at the stadium) as he
has done every other year, he called Hopewell Local 342 and asked
to run with them.
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NEW JERSEY COPS
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JULY 2015
“I wanted to run it with Hopewell and Ewing so my family and
daughter could see me running through (the stadium). I thought it
would be neat,” explained Basatemur.
Ella, clad in a lime-green t-shirt grouped with her swim team, was
indeed ecstatic to see her dad run in her honor.
“I did it for one reason, for my daughter. I wanted to mak H\