Witches, vampires cheer on flame
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Updated: November 05, 2009 10:13 AM
Spectators dressed as witches, vampires — and even those dressed as torchbearers — cheered and waved Canadian flags on Halloween as the Olympic torch descended onto Ganges via seaplane.
The island flickered for a brief time in history as part of the 45,000-kilometre journey taking place throughout Canada — the longest Olympic torch relay ever — in anticipation of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games.
Three torch bearers, selected by Coca-Cola and the Royal Bank of Canada, dressed in gleaming white track suits, carried the flame for 300 metres each for a total of 900 metres from the Ganges seaplane dock, down Fulford-Ganges Road, turning right onto Lower Ganges Road and ending at the top of the hill just before the Shaw Cablevision building.
The torches designed by Bombardier, also white, were almost one metre high and made of stainless steel, aluminum and sheet moulding compound.
One young spectator aptly described the torches as looking like “giant skis.”
Surprise torchbearer Dawn Coe-Jones, a professional golfer, arrived via seaplane with the flame that came from Lake Cowichan. Coe-Jones stepped off the seaplane at the dock and lit her torch from the “lantern” that houses the flame during over-land and over-air journeys.
Jones lit the torch of aboriginal torchbearer Darian Sport-Maxwell of Nanaimo, age 15, who passed the flame to Riley Dunlop, 18, of Metchosin, who passed it on to Nancy Gerein, 47, of Nanaimo.
“I’m so excited to carry this,” said Sport-Maxwell at the dock before the flame arrived, “because it encourages teens to make good choices in their healthy and active lifestyle. And I’m so proud to be here because I’m aboriginal . . . It’s just an honour.”
At the end of 900-metre relay, the flame was again captured in the “lantern” and taken by vehicle to the Vesuvius ferry, where the relay resumed in Crofton, en route to Chemainus, after celebrations held on the Howe Sound Queen.
While no Gulf Islands residents participated in the Ganges part of the relay, two Salt Springers acted as torchbearers on Sunday in Tofino. They were sisters Kya Dalton, 16, and Bailey Dalton, 14, who were recognized by the Go Active program for their volunteer activities at Salt Spring’s climbing wall facility.
Suzanne Reeves, spokesperson for the Olympic torch relay, said torchbearers were chosen through Coca-Cola and RBC Royal Bank contests, which made the “best effort to get folks from the region.”
An interactive map of the torch relay is available at www.vancouver2010.com/ under “More 2010 information.”
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