Torch will arrive in Golden on Day 85

The Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay is officially underway with the Olympic Flame arriving in Canada last week to start its historic 106-day journey. On day 85, the Torch will arrive in Golden and the VANOC Celebration Select Committee has a host of events planned to celebrate this moment in Golden’s history. At the Committee of the Whole meeting on October 27, Chief Administrative Officer Phil Taylor, who also Chairs the VANOC celebration select committee, requested that the Committee recommend to Council to approve the tentative schedule for the Olympic Torch relay Community Celebration presented at the COW meeting on October 27, 2009. In a Staff report, Taylor said, “With 107 days until the opening ceremonies for the 2010 Olympic Games and 86 days before the Olympic Torch comes through Golden, I thought it was time to give a public presentation of the plans Council’s Select Committee has come up with for our community celebration.” Taylor, Lisa Reinders, Committee member and Brenda Bowle-Evans, co-ordinator of the Golden Olympic Torch Relay, presented COW with two videos and a run through of the week-long celebration. I have to commend my co-Chair Lynne romano and Leisure Services Manager Lisa Reinders for lots of co-ordination work behind the scenes to get us this far and our Co-ordinator, Brenda Bowle-Evans for basically running with the core committees’ work and reaching out into the community and the sub-committees,” said Taylor, adding, “The schedule we have is being shared with groups and organizations some of which are already committed and others that are considering it.” Highlights of Golden’s Torch Celebration will include snow sculpting, a concert at the Rec Plex, featuring the Polyjesters, a pancake breakfast and three time Olympic champion Jake Wetzel making a trip to Golden. Bowle-evans said, “We have nine days of great events that start before the Torch even gets here.” On January 21, the Torch will begin its run from the Visitor’s Centre, through town and will end up at the stage behind Golden Secondary School. There will be a flare relay that evening at Kicking Horse Mountain resort (KHMR), and fireworks that will be visible from the Town’s Spirit Square. “As you can well imagine, this effort will take a lot of volunteers,” said Bowle-Evans, adding that there were a great many reasons for becoming involved with the celebration. “And with three or more hours of volunteering, you can also take the World Host 2010 ambassador program for free.” Bowle-Evans also introduced another initiative called GamesTown2010, a website that encourages people to blog about what their B.C. community is doing to get in the spirit. “Starting November 1, your votes count towards who will be named GamesTown 2010,” said Bowle-Evans, adding, “We are listed on this site and we could win $75,000 for a community project. We need bloggers. It can be short, just two or three lines and you can add pictures and videos as well.” Visit www.gamestown2010.ca for more information. For a complete schedule of the Golden Olympic Torch Community Celebration, visit www.goldentorchrelay.ca.