Lake Cowichan parties as the torch relay hits town

When Phil Haseldine started running with the Olympic torch during the relay through Lake Cowichan on Saturday afternoon, it was everything he imagined and more.

The Lake Cowichan resident, who moved here two years ago from Burnaby, got to carry the torch for 300 yards along Point Ideal Road.

“I was honoured to have the chance, because of everything it represents: peace, understanding,” said Haseldine.

For him, the highlight was when his two children, four-year-old Andrew and two-year-old Eric, got to run beside him.

“The security people said that no one was allowed to run with us,” said Haseldine. “When I started running, a security guy saw them running along on the sidewalk and he waved them over. That was very special.”

Hundreds of people lined the torch relay route to cheer the seven torch bearers, five who were from other communities such as Corbin Miller of Chemainus, who went the final stretch along Point Ideal Road to Cowichan Lake Marina.

It was from the marina that Dawn Coe-Jones, who grew up in Lake Cowichan and went on to an illustrious career as a professional golfer, carried the flame in the lantern to be taken by floatplane to Ganges on Saltspring Island.

The lantern is used to keep the flame burning between torches. It was used to hold the flame when it was brought to B.C. from Panathenaikon Stadium in Athens, Greece, a trip made by Mayor Ross Forrest and two other Vancouver Island mayors.

“It was unbelievable,” Forrest said of the whirlwind trip to Athens. “The one thing that stood out for me was the positive people we went with. Unbelievable.

“You really get a sense there (in Greece) of why the Olympics started. It was an awesome scene in Victoria to see what that flame did for people there.”

Forrest said the tour of Acropolis and the New Stadium was fantastic.

He said the museum has a glass floor and you can see the ruins below.

The celebrations in Lake Cowichan began long before the torch arrived from Duncan.

People gathered in Central Park for some entertainment and free food, then after the relay people went to Centennial Hall for more entertainment, food, games and hay rides.

Haseldine even worked the festivities at Centennial Hall, taking the torch to pose for photos with people.

“It really was a special day for me,” he said.

The Lake Cowichan Fire Department ended things with a bang by setting off fireworks.

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