Inspiring more than just athletes

By Will Colford
      
         The torch relays allow the community and its members to showcase talents beyond coming together.  Each town on the relay has its own heroes, former Olympians, and rising stars.  Courtney Morris, a senior at Drumheller Composite High School, is one such star who draws inspiration from the OLympic spirit, her community, and other home town heroes.
         "Getting to sing with my classmates at this, of all venues, was extremely special," said Morris.  Being the lead singer for the performance, Morris exemplified the leadership qualities of the lead torchbearers, and Olympians themselves.
         "Her voice is strong enough to carry the torch," remarks a crowd member.  Morris plans to take her singing to a professional evel as she's already applied to several prominent musical schools within North America.  She Aspires to be like another prominent singer in the community, Canadian Idol contestant, Jenn Beaupré.  But in my opinion, She doesn't have very far to go.
         "I really look up to her for inspiration and hope to be as good or better some day."  Above all the hype, people like Morris are what the torch relay is all about.  It's a chance for a community to come together and celebrate the people who make it special.

For more on the festivities in Drumheller please check out Travel Alberta's  You Tube channel 

Alberta is defined by it's people

By Jim Barr, SnowSeekers Inc.

The Olympic movement is about bringing people together, its about sharing cultures, learning from one another and acheiving goals. As our team makes its way around this province, I have been asking those who are part of the celebrations and the tens of thousands of Albertan's who are out to share in the Olympic glory, "What makes this a great place to live?"

For Susan and David Guba from Drumheller, that answer was simple.

"Our province is an incredible place to live and its the people that make it great. We are a province that is full of people who are there to help each other out," said Susan.

And certainly the Gubas were there in 1988 to help people out, volunteering for the '88 Calgary Olympics. They had the chance to reflect back on that experience yesterday, seeing the Olympic flame up close again as it marched into The Canadian Bad Lands Passion Play Theatre in Drummheller. It was sight that brought both of them to tears.

"It was such an incredible exerpience, to be apart of history and share in the excitement, its really hard to explain," said Susan. For David, his times during the Calgary games was about the chance to connect with fellow Albertans, Canadaians and people around the world.

"The people that we laughed with, the opportunity for us to share stories from our province and to be proud of what we are so fortunate to have. Then to see that flame back in Alberta here today ... it really choked me up and brought tears to my eyes."

This theme of hospitality is one we've been hearing a lot of as we make our way around the province, we really are a place where people care.

"We are strong. We work hard and we really work to see our dreams come true," explained Gisselle Beauchesne of Medicine Hat at last night, where the celebrations took place under the world's largest teepee- the Saamis Teepee (which was constructed for the Calgary '88 Olympics to showcase Alberta's heritage.)

Stay tuned for lots more as we make our way into Taber and Lethbridge today – where the torch will be making its way across the 100 year old railway bridge through town.

City of Champions might be a little further south

By Will Colford, SnowSeekers Inc.

“My daughter’s running beside the torch tonight,” says Andrew Ruain of Red Deer, Alberta.  He wonders if there will come a time when, instead of just running beside the torch, she’ll run holding the torch. Fortunately, Ruain’s daughter is in the right city.

  Mayor Morris Flewwelling is quick to point out the city of Red Deer is a community that “…backs the arts, sports, and thrives in winter. We have the highest concentration of medal contending Olympians per capita.” 

The mayor is a strong individual with confidence in his community, and he’s right. Red Deer backs its athletes and, as a result, nurtures some of our country’s top medal contenders. 

As I used to work with Olympic aerialist, Deidra Dionne during college, I am familiar with the time and effort the athletes, and the community as a whole, put into training and perfecting their sport of choice. Though I have no personal connection to Olympian and hometown girl, Jamie Salé, her presence tonight at the torch relay shows the pride the community takes in her being from central Alberta. 

Even CBC sportscaster Ron McLean is beaming and boasting of his Red Deer heritage. Speaking to all the easy-going people out for a good time, there definitely seems to be something special about the city of Red Deer. 

Barn burner in Red Deer

By Will Colford, SnowSeekers Inc.

Mayor Morris Flewwelling describes Red Deer Alberta as a community with “a strong tradition of coming together for one big party.”  Looking across the crowd, I’m reminded of the endless wheat and canola fields surrounding Red Deer. After attending several relay legs, it’s clear the mayor knows his town, as this is the biggest torch event I’ve seen. 

A hay-bail ball-hockey rink is packed with future Olympians. Not one, but two stages feature Alberta entertainment. Families line up for hot maple syrup cured on beds of fresh snow. A local break dance troop is throwing down. And overlooking everything is a massive JumboTron with a live feed of the approaching torch, making its way through the city. 

Interwoven in the “one big party,” former Olympians, Deidra Dionne and Jamie Salé enjoy the company from their hometown. 

Local Jordan White thinks the turn out is because the ‘community’ of Red Deer encompasses so much more than just the city itself.  “All the surrounding rural communities are apart of the central Alberta metropolis. They’re what gives Red Deer its flair.” 

As award-winning alternative country musician, Corb Lund takes to the stage for a second time, his talk of a bigger turnout in Red Deer than Edmonton is met with little surprise. But as the mayor said himself, “I’m not surprised it’s a barn burner. We get so many great events through here the city and the community just knows to expect a great time.”

The influence of the Gibber By Will Colford, SnowSeekers

Dr. Garry Gibson – lead torch bearer for Camrose, and affectionately known as the Gibber – told the crowd carrying the torch was “a major highlight of [his] life, made all the more wonderful by sharing it with [his] community.”

It appeared as if the whole town was closed that day to come out and celebrate its leg of the torch relay. Most excited were the school kids, who not only got to “miss math class” for the event, but they shared a connection to Dr. Gibson through their teacher, Miss Olsen. 

Garry “taught me in high school,” remembers Olsen. “He taught Phys Ed. and coached me in both volley ball and basket ball. It was before he stared the biathlon program. Before the program, only the army was concerned with biathlon.” 

Having not one, but two former biathlete Olympians – David Leony and Glenn Rubertus  – Dr. Garry’s influence on the community is as strong as ever. I had a chance to ask Glenn and David about the Nordic tradition in Camrose. 

“Camrose owes its Nordic skiing tradition to its Scandinavian heritage. Many Swedes and Norwegians settled here and brought with them cross country skiing. Now we have a prominent ski jumping, cross country, and biathlon program,” says David.  As such, representing their country in the sport of their home town makes both Glenn and David feel as though they “carry the town with [them] wherever [they] go.”  

Fire department on hand in case Olympic spirit flares out of control By Will Colford, SnowSeekers

The Deputy Chief of the Camrose Fire Department said, “The Olympic torch is one flame we can let burn.” 

Here in Camrose, however, there is another flame that burns in the members of the community. With seemingly the entire town closed down for the Olympic Torch Relay, there appears to be more volunteers than spectators.

 Jenn Cook, Wilma Shields, and Doris Hoffman are three such outgoing folks who volunteer at every community event.  “It’s just great to be out in the town and see old friends you haven’t seen in a while. By volunteering at every event, we get to go to every event.” Though they were excited for their local hockey and curling tournaments, the Olympic Torch Relay was one event they won’t soon forget. 

Local artist Andrew Phillips noted how the community gives “….an amazing amount of support for artists. I’m here at the torch relay with a booth.  Not only am I not being charged for the booth, the city had volunteers to help me set up.” 

Further to the volunteerism and community spirit, Deputy Chief Don Rosland remembers a fire at the elderly care centre not too far away from the relay event.  “As the fire grew, we needed volunteers to help move the patients inside. The head nurse had her pick as the entire street was lined with local residents who were on hand willing to help in what ever way they could.”

One would almost think that the torch was hardly needed to inspire community spirit in Camrose; it was plain to see that its symbol of enduring community spirit is already reflected in every town member.

A Run of Olympic Proportions

By Jim Barr, SnowSeekers Inc.

Today was day four of the torch being back in the province and its fourth community celebration – Camrose. Yesterday was a day off for the torch and the massive train that travels along with it, and the job that VANOC (Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee) is doing to bring the Olympic spirit into communities throughout this country is really impressive.

The day off was a great opportunity for everyone involved to take a breather, regroup and take stock of what we had been witnessed to so far – most of which is truly amazing.

Wednesday night, Brandon Boucher, SnowSeekers’ director of Photography, and I got the chance to see the relay up close and personal as it made its way through the streets of Edmonton. It wasn’t intentional.
We were at the Parliament Buildings (there’s an excellent tour you can take virtually anytime) and as the torch made its way out from the celebration they had on its steps, we decided that it would be a good idea to follow it up the road to bring you the best possible video of it.

As we made our way back out onto the street, we started to run alongside the bearer keeping pace right to the end of his run which allowed us to witness the passing of the flame to the next torch bearer – which was really, really cool.  Than the next bearer started to run and he was moving fast – fast enough that we had some challenges just trying to keep up but we weren’t letting that flame out of our site.

VANOC has about 10 support vehicles which travel with the flame (stay tuned to future blog posts and we’ll bring you a look at the vehicles). As each torch bearer is finished his or her leg, VANOC picks them up and bring them all up to the main community celebration, which in this case, was Edmonton’s Sir Winston Churchill Square in the centre of the city. 

If you are as fascinated by the operation as myself, have a go to www.vancouver2010.com and click on Olympic Torch Relay where you can even find a cool map laying out all the stops.