It is not every day the Olympic Torch runs through your city – okay it’s probably a once in a lifetime opportunity unless you live in Athens I’m sure – so Jes, her sister Heather and I decided to brave the cold and watch it run by. When I say cold I mean -20C to -25C (-4F to -13F). We thought we’d be only a handful of people on our stretch of the relay as we were near the start and it was running just around the corner from our house. We were debating if we would head downtown to watch it finish and go inside the Essar Centre to watch the ceremonies there.
We brought along the camera as well as my new Flip MinoHD portable camcorder. We got to our spot just before 6 and there was about 20 people on the street at that time. More and more people showed up as the time went on and the excitement kept building as the small parade before the torch came by. After experiencing it here our decision was made and we raced it downtown. As we hit Queen St. we couldn’t believe the number of people that turned out – it was amazing. After Jessica (our community torchbearer) went inside the Essar Centre we rushed in assuming we’d be able to get a seat or find a spot to watch in standing rooom. This wasn’t the case – the place was packed. The floor, the seats and standing room/upper aisle was just thick with people. It was definitely a great turnout by the city of Sault Ste. Marie for this amazing event.
Below are some pictures I shot. We were actually beside Jessica but I crossed the street trying to guess her path. It was a bad move as the media truck stopped right in front of me so I had to run around it. Below the pictures is a video compilation shot by Jes on the Flip MinoHD which I attempted to edit today (and failed). Jes hates the song, I like it! The shots and the video aren’t the greatest of works but hopefully it provides a glimpse of this event to anyone who may have missed out.
Jessica is the Sault’s very own Paralympic medalist winning silver at the Sydney Paralympic Games in 2000 and competing in the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens. She also holds 5 Canadian swimming records. One of the highlights of the relay (for us because we find things like it funny) is when Jessica’s dog stopped during her leg to “do his business” – when you have to go you have to go I guess.
You guys made me giggle –great music choice!
i like how you stopped the music to add the ending of the weird o canada version haha! i still believe my singing throughout the video was way better! “you can dance if you want to, you can be a friend of mine, but if you cant dance and if you wont dance then your no friend of mine” .. “heather you are aware this thing has sound right?”
just had to recap that moment hahahah
hi Curt – well done – nice event to capture,,,,better than the Sault Star pics for sure!