Okanagan torchbearers can‘t wait for Olympic torch relay

By Ron Seymour Saturday, November 28, 2009 Penticton Herald: (excerpts below):

A four-hour program will take place at midday Jan. 25 at the South Okanagan Events Centre in Penticton, with the event capped by the lighting of the cauldron by Susie Welch, a student who volunteers with a broad range of organizations.

The details of Kelowna‘s celebration, in the works for almost a year, will be presented to city council on Monday. “Stepping up to the challenge by creating a spectacular event will bring Kelowna to the forefront of the Olympic torch relay, and will showcase our beautiful city as well as the passion of its citizens,” city staffer Reid Oddleifson writes in a report to council. The Kelowna Olympic cauldron will be lit in City Park by world-class rower Scott Frandsen when it arrives early in the evening on Jan. 25. Frandsen, who was born in Kelowna, won silver in rowing at the Beijing Summer Olympics last August and competed at the Athens Games in 2004. “Even though I‘ve been to two Olympics, this is still going to be very exciting, to light the cauldron,” Frandsen said. “The relay‘s a great chance for people across Canada to become part of the Olympic movement.” In his work with RBC Financial Group, one of the relay‘s sponsors, Frandsen has handled only prototype torches. “It‘s going to be pretty cool to get my hands on the real thing in Kelowna,” he said. The four-hour Kelowna celebration, expected to draw up to 20,000 people, will include musical performances, dancing, distribution of 10,000 glow candles and the singing of Happy Birthday to Mayor Sharon Shepherd, who will turn 60 on that day. One thousand pairs of red Olympic mittens have been purchased, and will be distributed at city-sponsored events in December and January, and dozens of Olympic banners will be strung up downtown.

In Vernon on Jan. 26, the torch relay celebration, centred in Polson Park, has been conceived as an event that celebrates sports, arts and culture. An original song, The Flame, has been written by composer Imant Raminsh, and it will be performed by the Aura Chamber Choir. There will be ice sculptures, a photographic display that celebrates Vernon‘s history and a variety of musical acts. “We really feel that the Olympics is broader than just sports,” said Michelle Jefferson, Vernon‘s manager of tourism services. “Its cultural aspect will allow us to show off our artisans and creative people.” Fourteen-year-old Lannie Houle, the first aboriginal to play on B.C.‘s women‘s hockey team, has been chosen to carry the torch the last few hundred metres and light Vernon‘s Olympic cauldron. “I found out a couple months ago that I was going to light it, but I had to keep it a secret until it was announced. That was pretty hard,” Houle said. “It‘s so exciting to think I‘ll get to carry the torch – I just hope I don‘t fall down!”