Sport and Magic Join Together for 45th Empire State Winter Games Opening Ceremony
45th Empire State Winter Games Get Underway with Thursday’s Opening Ceremony
LAKE PLACID, N.Y. – Magician Matt Roberts added even more magic to Thursday night’s, Jan. 30, Empire State Winter Games opening ceremony, held in Lake Placid’s Olympic Center. Roberts performed an array of tricks and illusions dazzling the ceremony audience and 2,500 winter athletes that filled the 1980 Herb Brooks Arena ice.
This year’s opening ceremony theme was “Chasing Dreams on Snow & Ice.” One athlete chasing the dream of winning gold in girl’s ice hockey is Lake Placid’s Lillian Heidt.
“It would be great, it would bring us a lot closer than we already are as a team,” said Heidt, still smiling following the ceremony. “Everyone would be really happy to get a win under our belts. I’m just super excited to play with my favorite girls so that’s pretty nice.”
Over the next three days, athletes of all ages, from throughout the Empire State, New England, the northeast, and beyond will compete in more than 20 sports on 13 venues throughout Lake Placid and the Adirondack region.
The ceremony also celebrated the inspirational journey of all the athletes who participated in the previous 44 Games. Village of Lake Placid Mayor Art Devlin asked the athletes who among them were first-time participants. He then asked if there were athletes on the ice who had competed in previous Games. Lastly, he spoke to the many parents in the audience and asked them if they had ever been a part of the Empire State Winter Games. All three questions were met with loud applause.
The very first Empire State Winter Games took place following the 1980 Olympic Winter Games and has always been staged in Lake Placid. The Games are now recognized throughout the United States and beyond as the largest and longest continuous state games.
Nordic combined athlete Max Fey, of Lake Placid, gave the Athletes’ Oath. Figure skating judges Martha Rasmussen, Rochester, N.Y., Richie Ban Vliet, Buffalo, N.Y., figure skating judges for 20 years, administered the Officials’ Oath.
Melissa Bollman, head of retail banking for Community Bank, officially opened the Games by lighting the indoor Cauldron. Para-skeleton athlete Chris Tarte, the 2024 Highmark Blue Shield Empire State Winter Games Athlete of the Year, simultaneously ignited the carbon-free, flameless Cauldron, outside the Olympic Center. The LED Cauldron will remain illuminated throughout the Games and emphasize the efforts for an environmentally friendly Games.
With title sponsor Community Bank, N.A., along with supporting sponsors Highmark of Northeastern New York, DICK’s Sporting Goods, Bond, Schoeneck & King PLLC, Stewart Shops, Don’s Ford of Utica and Golden Arrow Lakeside Resort, the torch relay officially kicked off on Jan. 22, in Utica, then traveled to Buffalo, Jan. 23, before traveling east, making 16 stops through 16 cities and towns, throughout New York State. It arrived to Lake Placid and the Olympic Center’s 1980 Herb Brooks Arena, where it was met by torchbearer Kevin Quaranto, Highmark of Northeastern New York regional senior leader, and his family beginning the Cauldron lighting ceremony,
The opening ceremony concluded with a snowball drop from the Olympic Center’s rafters and a DJ dance party and light show.
The 45th Empire State Winter Games continue Friday through Sunday with competitions in Lake Placid, Wilmington, Saranac Lake, Tupper Lake, Paul Smiths and even Utica, the site for the Games’ newest sport, curling. Other events include adaptive sports (Alpine skiing, sled hockey, bobsled and biathlon) to Alpine skiing, freestyle skiing, speed skating, short track speed skating, figure skating, sliding sports (bobsled, luge and skeleton), snowshoeing, ski & snowboard cross, winter biking, winter triathlon, ski orienteering, ice hockey and cross-country skiing.