On Tuesday, November 4th, I was one of the 39 torch bearers selected to carry the Roly McLenahan Canada Games Torch as a part of the 100 Days Out Celebration that took place here in Prince George.
After the relay ended at 7 p.m., there was a huge and energy-packed celebration in the Canada Games Plaza at the Civic Centre.
The Torch Relay starts in Ottawa prior to each Canada Games event. The Canada Games Torch is lit from the Eternal Flame burning on Parliament Hill in the nation's capital. The torch was then flown to Victoria and from there it passed through previous Canada Games host cities Burnaby/New Westminster and Kamloops with Prince George as its destination to mark the beginning of the Illuminate the North Torch Relay. From here the Canada Games Torch will travel across thousands of kilometres of northern B.C. highways, leading back to Prince George for the opening ceremonies on Feb. 13, the first time the Canada Winter Games have ever been held in British Columbia.
The other 2015 Games Regional Community Torch Celebration communities are in Fort St. John in the northeast, Terrace in the northwest and Quesnel in the central interior. Each regional community will hold their own torch celebration featuring torchbearers from that region.
The 2015 Canada Winter Games Torch Relay will consist of a total of 150 residents of Prince George, northern BC and the rest of Canada.
The 2015 Canada Winter Games is our opportunity to show off the spirit of the community of Prince George to the nation during the largest sporting event ever to be held in Prince George and northern B.C. There will be 3,000 athletes from all 10 provinces and three territories competing in 19 sports over a two-week period.
First of all I was humbled to hear of my nomination and then my selection to be a torchbearer for this once-in-a-lifetime Prince George event.
It was thrilling and it was wonderful. It started at the YMCA with Catriona Le May Doan's wonderful and inspiring speech before the 39 of us torchbearers boarded the bus to start the relay.
I was proud, nervous and excited when I got off the bus to do my part in the relay. My heart was beating so fast - I could feel it and I could hear it pounding in my ears.
Thank you to all the people that took the time to line the side walks to cheer us all on - you inspired all of us. Thank you to the group that followed the bus waving our Canadian Flag. You did not go unnoticed by all of us on that bus - you made us all feel so proud.
As each runner headed to the front of the bus waiting their turn to carry the torch, the rest of the torchbearers on the bus cheered and clapped and encouraged every one of us from the first runner right up to the last runner two hours later. My hands were getting sore from clapping. Then when each of us finished our run and got back on the bus there were even more cheers.This was the same for every individual torchbearer from the first to the last.
The entire event was well organized with great consideration given to many details and individual attention to all of us as needed.
When we got off the bus and paraded into the Plaza you could easily see that we were all so proud to be a part of this prestigious event.
The following is a list of the 150 torchbearers that have been selected for this event. Congratulations to all of us that have received this honour.
Don Adamson, Selen Alpay, Lynda Anderson, Marlene Apolczer, Tracy Arrowsmith, Stu Ballantyne, Lynn Barager, Keith Bartsch, Pierre Beaudry, Shirley Belisle, Tim Bennett, Sean Bernard, Irene Berns, Anne Berrisford, Kaylee Billyboy, Bill Bond, Shirley Bond, Jonathan Botelho, Dominique Boyoki, Caleb Brousseau, Myrna Cable, Tony Cable, Charles Cecil, Jessica Chen, Barbie Conway, Seamus Damstrom, Brian Daszko, Jesmeen Deo, Eric Depenau, Emily Dickson, Christina Doll, Joe Ellis, Carolyn Emon, Pam Engelland, Leon Erickson, Neil Evans, Anthony Everett, Taniesha Fisher, Dominic Frederick, Edith Frederick, Robert Frederick, Beverly Fry, Max Furlong, Andrew Furmanczyk, Bruce Gabriel, Elissa Gagnon, Betty-June Gair, Norman Garfield, James Gemmell, Kiel Giddens, Leah Gifford, Mary Gouchie, Josh Eli Grant, Shirley Gratton, Clinton Green, Allison Hagreen, Laurie Hannon, Cindy Hartford, Cormac Hikisch, Ariadne Holness de Hiller, Alison Hoskins, Jeff Hunter, Sharon Hurd, Travis Hutchings, Cecil Jael, Jay Janower, Aaron Janzen, Jayne Kelly, Dave Kmet, Nick Kollias, Edward Kozuki, Jennifer Kuehne, Lexi and Brennon, Jason Lightening, Makalia Love, Alexandra Luggi, Grant A. MacDonald, Trevor Mack, Susan MacNeill, Jim Martin, M. Michiko Maruyama, Tom Masich, Chris Mason, Lauren Matheson, Myles Mattila, Gaetano Mauro, Mikey McDonald, Sherry McKay (Powney), Andrea McKenzie Sr., Maye McMeeken, Scott Andrew McWalter, Dominque Melanson, Hartley Miller, Yvonne Moen, Tom Moffat, April Moi, Terry Monture, Colleen Moorhouse, Jay Morrison, Wayne Mould, Kaitlyn Muir, Kathy Nadalin, Brian Nemethy, Helen Nikal, Jasper Nolos, Shelby Nome, Harry Nyce Sr., Olivia O'Brien, Elizabeth (Lzzie) Patrick, Raia Patrick-Prince, Kimberly Patten, Geoff Paynton, Ken Pendergast, Tyria Plamondon, Wendy Pollard, Michael Raper, Christie Ray, Lisa Redpath, Henry Reiser, Brett Robinson, Dan Rogers, Laura Sandberg, Norm Schmitz, Emma Violet Scully, Trent Seymour, Dorrie Sharcott, Sarah Shaw, Tina Sidorov, Brian Stefan, Jayne Stevens, Bob Stowell, Isabel Stratton, Luke Strimbold, Archie Sull, Cherie Swaan, Jim Terrien, Amanda Tisseur, Renee Trepanier, Raistlin Van Spronsen, Dick Vonegun, Les Waldie, Christina Wards, Sharell Warrington, Gail Weber, Daniel Weeks, Barry Whitfield, Brian Whitfield, Shaely Wilbur, Kristen Yawney and Hannah Young.
