The calm in Lyn Radford’s uncluttered kitchen belies the level of excitement building in the last days before the Olympic torch reaches Red Deer on Friday
For the past 15 months, Radford has chaired a committee of city staff and volunteers charged with laying plans to create a party that will cost $120,000 and involve 600 volunteers, along with participants from 35 public and Catholic schools.
And that doesn’t even include the stage and entertainment the Vancouver Olympics Committee and torch relay sponsors Coca Cola and RBC are bringing to Westerner Park to meet the torch when it wraps up its 78th day on the road, say Radford and her city counterpart, Barb McKee, supervisor of Collicutt Centre.
While Radford and McKee sit at the kitchen table, ironing out last-minute details, they’re confident that their committee, the Red Deer Olympic Torch Relay Community Celebration Task Force, has put on the best party yet for a city of its size.
Radford is keeping some of the details close to her chest. For instance, she’s not saying who will carry the torch into Westerner Park or how it will be conveyed — only that it’s not coming on foot.
She will admit to a few details. The first torch runner in the Red Deer section is Landon Haigh, a Red Deer teenager who lost his leg to the same type of cancer that attacked Terry Fox.
Haigh will start the torch off at 6:17 p.m. on a run that follows 32nd Street to Gaetz Avenue and then goes south to 19th Street, heading eastward for the final leg into Westerner Park.
Alberta singer-songwriter Corb Lund will be on stage and there’s going to be a huge fireworks display at the end of the celebration.
Otherwise, it’s all supposed to be a big surprise, said Radford.
One of the strongest factors in Red Deer’s favour has been the timing of the relay’s arrival in Red Deer. The longest torch relay in Olympic history reaches Red Deer on Day 78, just one month before its arrival in Vancouver on Feb. 12.
Along with the excitement that has built as the clock ticks down, the weather has vastly improved and is expected to remain fairly mild for Friday’s celebrations, said Radford.
What’s unique about Red Deer, said she and McKee, is that the city itself has embraced the project and has been supported by an exceptional crew of volunteers and sponsors, she said.
Thirty businesses have stepped forward, each of them offering cash or goods in kind knowing that, under the Vancouver organizing committee’s rules, their contributions cannot be acknowledged in any way.
Celebrations begin at Westerner Park at 5 p.m. with a parade of Olympic sports and the countries that have hosted games in the past. The final torch bearer of the day arrives to light the cauldron at 7 p.m. with celebrations to continue until 9 p.m.
There will be limited parking at the site, so people are encouraged to use the shuttle bus service, available from Notre Dame High School and Parkland Mall.
Please visit www.reddeer.ca for more details, including links to the torch relay map.
bkossowan@www.reddeeradvocate.com