First published on December 18, 2009 on My Life Is Like a Song
Last night I gave a summary and initial impression of my day following the Torch Relay in Toronto.
This is my more detailed account after reviewing my photos, videos and telecast. I was in for some surprises.
I started by driving up to North York to see the Torch Relay in the daytime. I parked just south of Mel Lastman Square. I then walked north for about 15 minutes (almost 10 blocks) until the convoy was approaching. The RBC truck came first handing out RBC Olympic Relay flags and then the Coke truck came by handing out commemorative painted aluminum Coke bottles. In my rush to get to Yonge Street (there was a lot of cheering when I was parking so I wrongly thought they were already approaching), I left my bag in the car figuring I wouldn't need it if I wouldn't be waiting long. So I now had a bottle, a flag and one mitt in my left hand (having no where else to put them) and a camera in my right hand. I learned that I need to practice taking photos with one hand because I kept pushing buttons I didn't want pushed. The camera is quite small and most of the buttons are on the back face where I was trying to hold it.
I looked for the orange dots on the lampposts to find a spot where the flame would be exchanged. A torchbearer was soon dropped off and so many spectators went up to him wanting their photo taken with him (even strangers). In a way this was good, but in another, he probably wasn't able to completely soak in the moment watching the flame arrive as he was busy posing for photographs.
The flame arrived and was transferred.
I did take a moment to appreciate the torch arriving from afar but then, I clicked. One of the reasons I wanted to go on my own in the afternoon was so I would get my photo-taking over with.
It was also a good opportunity to see how it all worked so that I would ensure a good experience with the kids when we would get only one chance (no running or following for them).
Once the flame was lit, I followed it down Yonge Street.
I managed to keep up with this torchbearer (Marien Gehrels) and saw him transfer the flame to the following torchbearer (Kevin Chambers). I caught up after Kevin passed the flame. I didn't see who the next torchbearer was (more on that later). I stayed and watched as the crowd took photos of Kevin and watched him board the torchbearer bus.
I thought this would be it for my experience. I couldn't keep up with the pace of the relay, but then for some reason (I didn't know it at the time, I did end up catching up). I still had to go south to get back to my car. After watching the telecast on television, I see that the next torchbearer walked the last part of his relay. The crowd was so large that it slowed down the convoy (and this was the rowdy crowd I had heard from my car).
It turns out that this torchbearer who I couldn't see because of the crowd, but I could see the flame he was carrying was Craig Kielburger. In case you don't know who he is, I have blogged about him in the past. He founded Free The Children with his brother Marc. You can read what I wrote here.
So complete bummer that I didn't realize that he was there...this is one of my annoyances with the torch relay (and perhaps done purposefully to prevent immense crowds in certain areas). CP24 was showing the names of the torchbearers (where I got their names).
I wrote the following before knowing who the next torchbearer was (who ended up being Craig's brother Marc Kielburger):
The following torchbearer was probably my favourite of the ones I saw. He really took the time to appreciate the moment. He kept thanking the crowd for coming as you can hear in this video...
...and he really tried to look on both sides and wave to the people who were lining the street.
He looked right at me once when I took a photo, but the camera hadn't focused properly.
He then passed the flame to a younger torchbearer (turns out to be Ferdinard Ismael).
This is probably my favourite photo. I love how close I managed to get. I love the look on his face and the younger one looking up at the flame. The crowd control was really not as tight at this point as it would be later in my neighbourhood.
After this transfer, I lost touch with the flame for a bit. I was walking down Yonge, again figuring this was the end of my experience as the flame got further and further away from me. I can still picture myself walking down, looking at the flame with a huge grin on my face...and looking at everyone around me with cameras and also smiling.
It was really an amazing experience.
In hindsight, how did I get so close to Marc Kielburger? I'm watching it on television and the crowd is so big. At one point, the crowd covers the street (the camera truck ahead is filming the crowd and can't see Marc). In hindsight, it also explains why Marc is taking his time and making sure he waves to everyone...so cool!
When the flame gets passed, they do stop for a minute or so, this gave me the opportunity to get close to the flame again. The following torchbearer (Lindsay Leo) began by walking. When I realized this, I ran to catch up to her.
I caught up with the last torchbearer when they stopped to transfer the flame to the small "torch" to be transported by convoy on the 401 to Scarborough.
After they took the smaller flame to the convoy, I stayed by the last torchbearer, watching the flame...
and then watching as they extinguished it.
This photo of the last torchbearer I think is a good representation of how all the torchbearers felt when they were done. I love the expression on his face! It shows the pride and the pure joy of experiencing (for most) a once-in-a-lifetime event.
I wrote the previous few sentences before realizing that this is Richard Peddie. The CEO and GM of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment.
So my afternoon consisted of 5 torchbearers...300m each, so 1.5km in 20 minutes!
(editing this comment after reviewing the telecast...6 torchbearers (I had missed Kevin in my count plus Craig that I didn't really see)...300m each, so 2.1km in 20 minutes!! My first photo was taken at 2:17pm and my last one at 2:37pm.
This is what I called my whirlwind Torch Relay experience.
I was ready for my neighbourhood Torch Relay experience with my children.
I had planned on going to the end of my street and finding the closest orange sticker on a pole signifying a transfer of the flame.
I was watching the telecast when the reporter said she was just north of Eglinton (I missed where she was exactly) and that she was at the spot where Ivan Reitman (director of Stripes, Ghostbusters as well as many other films) would pass the flame to his son Jason Reitman (director of Up In The Air that was nominated for Golden Globe and SAG Awards this week).
Having seen the crowds running down following the torch and converging where the flame is being passed, I figured that this was not the place for my children to be. Especially since a lot of the time, security, media and spectators stand in front of where you are.
When I got to Yonge, we see the CTV truck and the reporter. The Reitman exchange is happening just north of our street at 5:15pm.
We walked further north, but then I realized that the previous transfer would be popular as well with Ivan Reitman receiving the flame. After a brief discussion, we decided to stay near our street and watch the torch pass (rather than a transfer). The kids were excited (ok, me too) to receive glow-in-the-dark Coke bottles to wave as the torch went by. Very cool to see the torch in the dark (and happy I also saw in the daytime). Being in between transfer points, we did get a good vantage point of Ivan Reitman walking past with the torch.
We got home happy with our experience. Not taking the time to inspect the glow-in-the-dark bottles, I took photos thinking they were like glow-in-the-dark necklaces that would only glow for a limited time (turns out they have an on-off switch and possibly have batteries).
(how cool are they?)My torch relay experience continued by going downtown to meet my husband at Nathan Phillips Square for the city celebration. The torch was supposed to arrive at 7pm but was delayed an hour because protestors disrupted the route, but we were not told why the torch was late. The celebration seemed to go without a hitch (if I hadn't known that the torch was late), but I arrived late, so perhaps people who had been there since the beginning saw some repeated performances or videos. I haven't watched the full telecast yet, so can't comment on the delay.
After some entertaining performances, the torch arrived carried by Vicky Sunohara who won 2 gold medals and one silver medal in women's ice hockey. We couldn't see the flame come across the ice rink on the red carpet (saw that on the telecast afterwards), but we could see the flame go through the crowd, up to the stage.
We were quite far, but with our zoom lens, my husband captured the torch as it was about to light the cauldron and then the lit cauldron.
The lighting of the cauldron was followed by Vicky being interviewed and by speeches by federal, provincial and municipal politicians.
We ended up having to leave early and as we were leaving, I noticed an aluminum bottle on the ground. I picked it up (it was empty...I wasn't planning on opening mine) and brought it home so that I would have a pair of bottles (turns out it didn't smell like coke when we opened it)...Did I mention that it was a really cold day and evening (for Toronto)?So, I had a full day relishing my time in the presence of the Torch Relay. I have some souvenirs to remember this day:
The middle two bottles are the front and back view of the glow-in-the-dark bottles. The two red flags are also the same (different view).I just learned today that Steve Nash will be carrying the torch in the relay the day before the Opening Ceremonies. Barring a snow storm or other flight delay, I will already be in Vancouver/Victoria that day. Hopefully I can find out where he'll be and perhaps have another torch relay experience.
This is happiness!
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