Metro prepares to throw big party for Olympic Torch at new stadium

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BY ALAN COCHRANE
TIMES & TRANSCRIPT STAFF

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Special Olympics athlete Chris Briggs will have the honour of carrying the Olympic Flame onto the stage and lighting the Olympic cauldron at the new stadium next Monday as Metro Moncton celebrates the spirit of the games.

"I'm quite excited about it," said Briggs, a 33-year-old Monctonian, has participated in both winter and summer games. He also likes to play golf.

Jillian Somers, communications officer for the City of Moncton, said Briggs was chosen because he embodies the Olympic spirit.

"I always try to push myself to the end of every competition. I'm training all the time. It's what I love to do, stay in shape and learn about fitness and nutrition," said Briggs, who works as a custodian.

"Since Chris joined the Special Olympics Program five years ago he has been one of the most impressive athletes that I have ever coached in my 30 years with the organization," said coach Glen Agnew. "Since joining with us he has participated in golf, basketball, floor hockey, softball, soccer, speed skating and track and field. He has such a positive attitude -- a lot of our athletes see Chris and try to emulate him as much as they can."

Moncton's community celebration event will take place at the new Moncton Stadium on the Université de Moncton campus next Monday.

The festivities get underway at 6 p.m. and will feature VANOC entertainers along with local performers Chris Mersereau, Dominique Dupuis and a community youth choir. The Olympic flame is scheduled to arrive at the stadium around 7 p.m.

"We are delighted that Chris will be carrying the Olympic Flame on behalf of Monctonians on November 23," said Moncton Mayor George LeBlanc. "As a Special Olympian, Chris knows the commitment, dedication and hard work that it takes to compete as an athlete and he truly embodies the Olympic spirit."

The Olympic Torch will arrive in Moncton Monday as part of its cross-Canada journey toward Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Games in February. It will be carried by thousands of Canadians of all ages along a route that cris-crosses the country, taking into many communities who will celebrate its arrival in their own way. The flame will be carried by runners, on wheelchairs, boats and even armoured military vehicles. The flame is being carried by a convoy of vehicles that is making whistle-stop visits to various communities along the way. It is not being carried by runners for the entire journey.

It was carried through Halifax yesterday and will make its way through the southern tip of Nova Scotia today. It will be in Amherst on Saturday and then cross the Northumberland Strait by ferry to Prince Edward Island. The torch will make a quick trip around P.E.I., on Sunday and travel across the Confederation Bridge to New Brunswick around 10 a.m. Monday.

The first stop will be in Port Elgin, where it will be carried through the village on a Can-Am Spyder three-wheeled motorcycle. It will then be loaded back onto the convoy van and transported to Cap-Pele, where it will be carried by runners along Highway 133.

Torch bearers will pass the flame from torch to torch, but they won't have long to savour it since each of the 12,000 torches manufactured to do the job only have a burn time of 12 minutes. The 37-inch-long torches were designed and manufactured by Bombardier. They are built with an aluminum frame and fibreglass body and use a special blend of propane and butane. Runners chosen get to keep the torches as a souvenir and already some of the unique pieces have been offered for sale on auction sites like eBay.

The flame is scheduled to arrive in Shediac at noon Monday for a community celebration at the Festival Arena with a showcase of Acadian music and culture. After that, it will travel through Memramcook, Sackville and Dieppe to Moncton. The Moncton torch run is scheduled to begin at 5:35 p.m. on Main Street near the Chateau Moncton hotel. It will travel along Main Street to Vaughan Harvey Boulevard, then back along St. George to Botsford, up Mountain Road to the Killam Drive corner (near McDonald's), then along Connaught and Morton to the Université de Moncton campus.

The flame is scheduled to arrive at the new Moncton stadium around 7 p.m., and by then the party should be well under way.

Somers said people are encouraged to situate themselves along the parade route on Monday to watch as the torch procession passes by. The motorcade will be escorted by RCMP officers who will control traffic and maintain safety along the route.

The celebrations will begin at the new stadium at 6 p.m., but people attending are asked to arrive no earlier than 4:30 p.m. Free parking will be available at Université de Moncton but spectators are encouraged to walk if they live nearby. It is an outdoor stadium so people are reminded to dress for the weather since the event will last approximately two hours. People are also being asked to wear something red and white.

The new stadium is still under construction for next year's International Association of Athletics Federation's World Junior Track and Field Championships.

Sponsor Coca-Cola will offer a high energy demonstration of acrobatics and percussion, and RBC will present artist Fritz Branschat, who will keep the audience guessing in a dramatic explosion of paint and energy on a giant canvas.

A number of other interactive games and exhibits will be on hand, as will at least one Olympian signing autographs. Coca-Cola will hand out keepsake special bottles of Coke and RBC will distribute tambourines that should be good for getting a good old-fashioned kitchen party/tintamarre going.

Keeping with the green theme that was part of the competition for the right to carry the torch, RBC also has an 18 wheeler that pops out all over into a large scale three-part demonstration of energy saving ideas, the display itself powered by solar panels and a wind turbine. As well, the fleet of vehicles travelling from one community to the next is made up of hybrids.