Raymond Carlson, of American Legion Post 44 in Marquette, will be recognized as the Upper Peninsula Veteran of the Year at the U.P. State Fair in August. (Courtesy photo)

MARQUETTE — A Marquette man has been named the 2025 Upper Peninsula Veteran of the Year and will be honored with a ceremony at the U.P. State Fair in August.

The Upper Peninsula Veteran of the Year Committee announced Raymond E. Carlson’s award Thursday, recognizing his contributions to the veteran community and his unwavering commitment to service.

Carlson’s leadership in Michigan’s American Legion over the past two decades serves as a focal point for his accomplishments. He’s had positions that included post commander, district commander, zone commander and served on the State Department Finance Committee, with extensive experience and dedication to his work securing his influence within the American Legion across Michigan.

During his time as commander of the Richard M. Jopling American Legion Post 44 in Marquette, Carlson was in charge of a $240,000 renovation project to enhance and revitalize the post. He also commits himself to post-sponsored social events for community veterans, such as bingo at the Marquette County Fair, bingo at the Jacobetti Veterans Home in Marquette and Boys State initiatives that promote youth development and civic engagement.

Carlson’s youth engagement extends to the hours he coaches and raises funds for youth sports. He served as coach of the Marquette Legion Blues baseball team for six years, leading the team to multiple district championships and the Fifth Zone championship in 1986 to earn their place in the state tournament. Twelve years of service as chair of the District Baseball Committee included Carlson organizing and overseeing numerous tournaments, adding to his long list of services to the youth of the area.

Carlson has also successfully bid on and coordinated American Legion conventions for 14 years, leading to the success of the event in the U.P. during his time as president of the U.P. Convention Corporation. He’s also secured future convention dates in Sault Ste. Marie.

“Carlson’s unwavering commitment to supporting veteran activities and youth initiatives has made a lasting impact on the community. His dedication and service are truly commendable,” said the UPVYC in a news release.

The Upper Peninsula Veteran of the Year ceremony will be at 10:30 a.m. Aug. 14 at the Upper Peninsula State Fair, 2401 N. 12th Ave. in Escanaba. More information about the fair and the venue for the ceremony can be found online on the Upper Peninsula Veteran of the Year’s Facebook page.

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Abby LaForest can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 548, or alaforest@miningjournal.net.

LAPWAI, ID – This past Saturday and Sunday, July 12th and 13Th, were the 2025 Lapwai Days, and people showed out to make the event a success

To start the morning off on Saturday at 9 am, there was a three-on-three basketball tournament.

A lot of the youth showed up and put on an impressive performance with some standout plays. A notable difference in this basketball tournament was the absence of three-pointers.

On court one, it was third and fourth grade co-ed; on court two, it was 5th and 6th grade co-ed; then on court three were the older kids with seventh and eighth grade co-ed.

As the games went on for the basketball tournament, other events started taking place as well.

With volleyball tournament starts at 9 am.

This tournament was hosted by the Lapwai Wildcats volleyball team, so all the proceeds from that tournament went back to support the Wildcats volleyball team.

Then at people were also getting some practice before they got started with the corn hole tournament, which started at 10 am.

Yesterday, on Sunday, they closed out the 2025 Lapwai Days with a 5k community walk and the mush ball tournament championship.

“Stars, Stripes and Fair Nights” is the theme for the 2025 Juniata County Youth Fair at the Juniata County fairgrounds in Port Royal. Schedule of Juniata County 4-H and FFA exhibits:

Monday, July 21

9 a.m — Rabbit Show

1 p.m — Dairy Market Feeder Show

5 p.m — Opening Ceremony (Livestock barn)

7 p.m — Dairy Show (Ice Cream Social to Follow)

Tuesday, July 22

9 a.m — Goat Show

1 p.m — Sheep Show

Wednesday, July 23

9 am — Poultry Show

Noon — Beef Show

4 to 7 p.m — Silent Auction: Baking Contest, Decorated Cakes, Butter, and Club Baskets (Commercial Building)

5 p.m — Swine Show

Following Swine Show — Ag Olympics (Sponsored by Juniata FFA)

Thursday, July 24

10 a.m — Supreme Showmanship Contest

Following Supreme Showman — Animal Costume Contest

4:30 p.m — Buyer Registration Begins

6 p.m — Livestock Sale

Food trucks will be on site.

For more information, contact Juniata County Penn State Extension 4-H Educator, Emily Shoop, at (717) 436-7744.

[July 14, 2025] Special Olympics and Nike announced a three-year global partnership to further the longtime collaboration between the two global organizations to create access to sport for all youth. This new, global phase of the partnership elevates and expands upon Nike’s more than two decades of support of Special Olympics Oregon, recent support of Special Olympics Berlin and grants to other local Programs.

This partnership has been announced in tandem with Global Week of Inclusion (14 – 20 July), which is a week organized by Special Olympics every year marking the anniversary of the founding of Special Olympics. It is a worldwide celebration of unity, empowerment, and acceptance bringing together people with and without intellectual disabilities to foster inclusive communities. In 2025, we’re celebrating 57 years of Special Olympics and inviting our partners and the community to help amplify this milestone like never before.

Special Olympics (SO) and Nike are focused on setting a new standard for coach education and retention for Special Olympics Unified Sports®, the Special Olympics program where athletes with and without intellectual disabilities (ID) play together on the same team. This work is critical to the shared mission of sport for development, which is the intentional use of sport, physical activity, and play to promote positive social change. This partnership will be delivered through Special Olympics Unified Champion Schools® (UCS). The support to UCS will help advance Nike’s commitment to powering the future of youth sport where all youthhave access to sport. In addition to innovating their coach training for all Special Olympics Unified Sports coaches globally according to the most recent evidence-based and expert-informed guidance on quality and inclusive youth sport coaching.

The partnership will concentrate on four key communities: Oregon, Berlin, Johannesburg, and Tokyo. Nike will engage its employees as volunteers in all four communities as a key element of the partnership, beginning with employee volunteer opportunities at both Special Olympics Oregon and Special Olympics Berlin Summer Games this July.

“Our global partnership with Nike will strengthen our sport for development initiatives by expanding our world-class coaching tools and increasing gender parity in our Unified Sports programs.” said Mary Davis, CEO at Special Olympics International. “Utilizing our capabilities as a force for inclusive education, along with support from a fellow global sports leader in Nike, allows us to broaden the meaningful opportunities available to Special Olympics athletes and coaches.”

Over the course of the three-year partnership, Nike and Special Olympics will collaborate on updating Special Olympics’ Global Unified Sports Coach courses and train-the-trainer materials, leveraging Nike’s three decades of youth sport coaching experience and deep insights with global partners and experts focused on quality coaching that’s inclusive and welcoming to all youth. They will also work to recruit more Unified Sports coaches to more closely reflect community demographics—with the ambition of training and certifying more than 600 additional volunteer coaches across the four key communities. The two organizations also aim to create more opportunities for young women and girls to access Unified Sports.

“Coaching and supporting players in Unified Basketball games has been one of the most rewarding parts of my role. Seeing proud parents moved to tears as they watch their child achieve so much, witnessing Unified partners form genuine friendships with Special Olympics athletes, and watching teams play with respect—not dominance—fills me with pride,” said Jamaal Goodlow, Unified Basketball Coach of Parkrose High School in Portland, Oregon. “As a properly trained Unified coach, I know how essential it is to foster inclusion, teamwork, and mutual respect on and off the field.”

Dakar 2026 will be the first Youth Olympic Games to benefit from the IOC’s evolved approach to the YOG sports programme, designed to better fit the local context.

There are 25 competition sports and 10 engagement sports on the programme at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games.

The 25 competition sports are athletics (track and field), aquatics (swimming), archery, badminton, baseball (baseball5), basketball (3×3), boxing, breaking, cycling (road cycling), equestrian (jumping), fencing, football (futsal), gymnastics (artistic gymnastics), handball (beach handball), judo, rowing (coastal rowing), rugby (rugby sevens), sailing, skateboarding (street), table tennis, taekwondo, triathlon, volleyball (beach volleyball), wrestling (beach wrestling) and wushu.

The 10 engagement sports for Dakar 2026 are canoe-kayak, golf, hockey, karate, modern pentathlon, shooting, sport climbing, surfing, tennis and weightlifting.

Sports principles

Aiming at providing a sustainable and credible model for Dakar 2026, an updated set of sports principles has been developed. These limit each sport to just one discipline. The venue and operational strategy maximise the use of existing venues and promote the sharing of venues and fields of play. NOC representation and participation principles will ensure a pathway for all NOCs to Dakar 2026, with a strong focus on the African NOCs and athletes, as well as continental representation across all sports.

Dakar 2026 will be fully gender-balanced in both the overall athlete quota and across every sport, discipline and event. This acts on one of the sports principles for Dakar 2026. Out of the 153 events across all sports on the programme, there are 73 for each gender and seven mixed events. Meanwhile, the athlete quota for the Games has been set at 2,700, reflecting the IOC’s determination to delivering a tailored and efficient programme that preserves the elite nature of the event, while guaranteeing a competitive platform for young athletes worldwide.

The maximum age for participants will be 17 at the time of the Games, with the respective age requirements aligned with International Federation and elite athlete pathways where possible.

Participation principles

The IOC Executive Board approved the Participation Principles for the Dakar 2026 YOG on 17 March 2025, reinforcing the event’s commitment to universality, gender equality and strong African representation. The revised participation and entries process aligns with the strategic priorities of NOCs and IFs, ensuring an inclusive and merit-based athlete selection system. Key principles include:

• Providing an opportunity for the athletes from the territories of 206 NOCs and the Youth Refugee Olympic Team to participate.
• Prioritised participation for all 54 African NOCs, and host country representation across sports and disciplines where possible.
• Central management of the athlete quota by the IOC to uphold these principles, while maintaining competitive integrity, with a focus on youth development and alignment with existing NOC and IF investment pathways.
• IFs establishing the minimum sporting and eligibility criteria for participation in their respective events at the YOG.
• Having an equal number of quota places for women and men across the disciplines.

The framework also removes the requirement for YOG-specific qualification events, easing financial and logistical pressures on the NOCs, IFs, NFs and athletes. This structured approach ensures a fair and accessible pathway for participation, while strengthening the global impact of the YOG.