Olympic Torch in Sooke: Sat. Oct.31  

Rainfall and flame                                                            

   by Mary P. Brooke

 

UPDATE OCTOBER 31, 2009:  Olympic Torch is lit inside the Sooke Fire Hall, Oct.31/09. Photo by Mary P. Brooke, 2009 Copyright MapleLine Magazine

The local Sooke event -- with the Olympic Torch through Sooke on Sat. October 31, started at 7 am at Sooke Fire Hall. Mayor Janet Evans presided briefly over a ceremony with Scottish pipes band, sports team youth reps, and a 1-minute video of the pole-climbing loggers of days gone by -- before the loud and flashy Coca Cola and RBC trucks took over the show and stole the crowds to the streetside (perhaps intentionally, due to worries about protestors that had intervened at Olympic ceremonies in other locations). Meanwhile, the torch was being lit inside the fire hall and -- after some photo ops for the TV and newspaper media -- was carried down Otter Point Road toward its Sooke destination at Derbend Road (before leaving Sooke on the next leg of its journey).

About 300 people came out in pre-dawn dampness to find the skies opening with rain just as the ceremonies began. After the torch had left the station, so had the rainfall.

Fire Chief Steve Sorensen said, "Well, now we get busy planning for the Halloween haunted house event for tonight," but was pleased with the excitement that had transpired at the station and the number of volunteer firefighters who had come out.

For quiet rural Sooke there was relatively heavy police security along the torch route.

 

 EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT (up to Oct.31): Olympic Torch Relay through Sooke - Sat. Oct.31 - 7 am to 8 am.  Olympic Torch relay celebration event in Sooke, starts 7 am at the Sooke Fire Hall on Otter Point Road, Sat. Oct.31 including O Canada to be sung by Ethan Swinburnson and a brief speech by Mayor Janet Evans after receiving a tree as a gift from youth sports reps.   See torch route map. See official announcement memo including torch route viewing locations. The torch was first lit on Oct.22 for its journey across Canada. On Oct.31 it will travel through Sooke starting at 7:19 am, to Derbend Road where there will be a cheering presentation by community groups who are invited to gather there, including the SD62 youth choir singing their Spirit song. The torch then goes down Lazzar to the reserve for a T'Sou-ke traditional welcome and blessing, and then is to leave from Derbend at 7:59 am. At 8:00 am breakfast will be served at EMCS (in tents outside below the overhang). A concert will be presented from the rear door of the Community Theatre stage to viewers outside. Performers are: youth pop band Cole Grifter; Ekoos Ensemble; Sooke Folksingers; Sooke River Bluegrass; Sooke Pipes and Drums; Francophone troubadour Rejean Bussieres; and accordionist Karl Mosig. The Sooke Spirit Committee will be running buses 5:30 am from Port Renfrew and 6:15 am from East Sooke, which will shuttle from downtown Sooke to the breakfast once the road is open again.

UPDATE OCTOBER 21, 2009:  The local Sooke event -- with the Olympic Torch through Sooke on Sat. October 31, will start at 7 am at Sooke Fire Hall (2225 Otter Point Road, Sooke). Mayor Janet Evans will give a speech and some local Sooke history will be heralded in a short presentation.

The 2010 Olympic Flame will be lit on October 22 and handed over to a rep from Canada in Athens, Greece on Oct.29 before making the trans-Atlantic flight. The flame will visit every province and territory and will be carried by 12,000 torchbearers.

In Sooke, 15 runners, each running 300 metres with the 2010 Olympic Torch, will set the stage for the torch relay celebration through this west coast community. Each runner will receive a track suit, toque and gloves. The send-off ceremony for the runners will include breakfast and a concert (with 7 local performance groups) at Edward Milne Community School. Local Sooke organizers encourage everyone to come out in Olympic coloured attire (bright green and cyan blue, plus red mittens) or sports uniforms to take part in the Olympic Torch celebrations.

The District of Sooke received $10,500 from the Province of BC to host this celebration. Sooke historian Elida Peers has been the main organizer for the event. MM

 

SOOKE GETS DAY 2 FOR THE TORCH: Sat. October 31, 2009   [as published in MapleLine Magazine, Aug.5/09]

It’s exciting and yet to be revealed. The advent of the international Olympic Torch being relayed through small-town Sooke holds a depth of mystique similar to that of the Halloween festival on the date it comes through, October 31.

A small group of organizers spearheaded by Elida Peers (of the Sooke Region Museum) are aiming to present an early morning event at or near Edward Milne Community School. A community breakfast event will likely be held. Details are being held under wraps as tightly as you’d expect at the Pentagon.

Meanwhile, we learn from the Vancouver2010.com website that the relay for these Winter Games will be the longest relay held in the borders of the host country in history. The Olympic Flame, starting in Victoria, will visit over 1,000 communities and places of interest as 12,000 torchbearers carry it on a 45,000 km journey.

Sooke will enjoy all the excitement of seeing the torch relayed through this small community on only the second day of the relay. Sooke is one of 200 communities to host a torch-related event as the torch that symbolizes a communion of nations makes its way along its route throughout the country then back to Vancouver for the opening ceremonies at BC Place on March 12, 2010.

The torch itself weighs 3.5 lb. (1.6 kg) and is 37.125 inches tall (94.5 cm). Designed by Bombardier/VANOC, it is comprised of stainless steel, aluminum and a sheet moulding compound. The torch burns for about 12 to 15 minutes using a blend of propane, isobutane and hydrocarbons.

It will be a rare experience to see the torch up close on a crisp autumn morning (hint -- the torch might come through at 7 am). The excitement in Sooke is already palpable.  MM

 

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This article is Copyright 2009 Brookeline Publishing House Inc.

See an article about cats and Halloween on page 27 in the print edition of MapleLine Magazine (Fall 2009 issue / Aug.-Oct.2009). Subscribe to MapleLine.