More than 100 locals caught Olympic fever Thursday (Jan. 25) during the Chamber of Commerce presentation Lure of the Rings. Residents, visitors, athletes and fans packed the Garibaldi Five theatre to here how to "celebrate the possible" before, during and after 2010.
The crowd viewed inspiring video montages of past celebrations and outstanding athletic achievements, and listened to the numerous speakers describe potential opportunities for Squamish. One such opportunity, said VANOC representative Maureen Douglas, could be hosting athletes' families.
"Imagine living the Games through athletes' family members around the dinner table," she said. "It's something your kids will never forget."
The audience also heard from former local Olympic bid committee members Greg Gardner, Denise Imbeau and Owen Carney as well as Mayor Ian Sutherland, local Olympian Mike Carney, director of Nordic sport John Aalberg, ski jumping/Nordic combined manager John Heilig and Legacies Now organizer Ian Tait.
Gardner said he hopes to see the return of the frenzy that existed in the community during the bid campaign while behind him, the theatre screen lit up with slides of bid announcement celebrations.
"I have to tell you, I'm starting to get excited again," said Gardner. "But we need a lot more people involved if we want to maximize our opportunities for the Olympic Games. Today's a good start. I'd like to see not an 11-person committee involved in the Olympics, not the 120 of us in this room. I would like to see 16,000 people in Squamish involved in some capacity," he said to the cheering crowd.
Imbeau said she's collected approximately 60 names for Squamish's volunteer list so far. VANOC estimates the Callaghan Valley's Nordic Centre alone will require hundreds of volunteers by the end of this year and thousands by 2010.
"I can tell you, having a bed in the corridor to sleep in looks really good on your volunteer vitae," said Douglas.
Residents, businesses and organizations hoping to get into the Olympic spirit have a long list of examples to follow. Tait held a power point presentation listing numerous websites where information and resources can be found. He told the crowd to pressure the local parks and recreation director to sign up to the Hosting with B.C. website,which already has 36 towns listed.
He also showed ways that dozens of municipalities around the province are celebrating the Spirit of B.C. Olympic legacy.
Among the examples were Prince George, which held a winter summit, Fort St. John, which is holding a "Walk to Whistler" event encouraging the town's residents to wear a pedometer, Quesnel, which unveiled a massive granite Inukshuk, and numerous towns that have covered their streets and municipal buildings with Spirit of B.C. banners.
"Take whatever you do and wrap it around a Spirit of B.C. blanket," said Tait. "Do something tonight. Nothing ventured, nothing gained."
