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Oakville Olympic torch bearers come in all ages 3 · Wednesday, December 16, 2009 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.oakvillebeaver.com Continued from page 1 Drive where the route will end at Mary Street. Oakville's leg of the torch relay leading up to the 2010 Olympic games in Vancouver will see the torch carried by young and old, conspicuous and inconspicuous personalities. Gold medal kayaker Adam van Koeverden will bear it along its brief sojourn on the Sixteen-Mile Creek. He will be joined by 1976 silver medalist John Wood, who is slated to carry the torch from the canoe club to the Oakville Public Library. Former mayor Ann Mulvale will usher it into the downtown core, carrying it from Devon Road to Allan Street. Acting mayor Tom Adams will host a brief photo opportunity with the official flame at 176 Lakeshore Rd. E., but will not carry the torch. Town councillors will be stationed along the route handing out Olympic flags. Some of the torch bearers are local folks. Others will be from out of town -- like 87old twin sisters Rhona and Rhoda Wurtele of Montreal, Québec who were in the Olympics together in 1948, when they were the entire Canadian Women's Olympic Ski Team. A host of Oakville residents are bearing the flame in other communities, a few are doing so in nearby Burlington -- also on Dec. 19. Others are a little further afield. Still others have already borne the flame elsewhere in Canada like Shelagh (Foster) McGrogan, who carried it Oct. 31 in British Columbia. More recently, Robert Cameron Lundy "Cam" Grout completed his leg of the torch run in New Brunswick. "Come out and cheer on the torch... and wear your red and white Canada gear to support our athletes," said Gisèle Shaw, the Town of Oakville's manager of corporate communications, policy and communications. Oakville is among 1,000 Canadian communities hosting the Olympic Flame as it passes through on its way to the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games. The 2010 Olympic Torch Relay began its 106-day Canadian journey on Oct. 30. The Flame's pan-Canadian journey will culminate on Feb. 12, 2010, when it arrives back in Vancouver for the opening ceremony before a global viewing audience of billions. The full torch relay route and an updated interactive map are available on the Vancouver 2010 website. The Oakville route details, as well as a countdown are on the Town's website at www.oakville.ca. The Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay route is to be the longest domestic Torch Relay in Olympic history, stretching more than 45,000 kilometres throughout Canada. Once finished, the Olympic Flame will have been welcomed in more than 1,000 commu- nities and passed within one hour of more than 90 per cent of the entire Canadian population. It will even take to the water in Oakville carried by none other than van Koeverden, a gold medalist in 2004. "I don't know how they plan to do this, but I imagine it will be similar to what was used in Halifax for the C2 that was carrying the torch. Basically a stand was created and the torch was mounted on the boat," said Robert Dance of the Burloak Canoe Club. While the club is not officially involved in the relay, Dance said he is proud that four of the club's members are taking part in the relay. Besides van Koeverden and Wood another club member, Alan Thomson who participated in the 1984 Los Angeles games will be carrying the torch in Burlington on the same day. Thomson will carry it from Burlington City Hall, south on Brant Street to Lakeshore. On Dec. 20, Brady Reardon, who participated in the 2008 Beijing games, will carry the torch in Jordan, Ontario. While the Olympic Torch Relay flag flies proudly at Town Hall, the local route was just recently released and a full list of participants is not released publicly until just days before each local event. "The town is proud to have the Olympic torch pass through Oakville on its long jour- ney to Vancouver," said Councillor Adams, who will be acting mayor when the torch makes its way through town Saturday. "The Olympic spirit is alive and well here, and we're excited to welcome the torch on Dec. 19," he said. "This is an exciting opportunity for Oakville to be part of an historic event and a worldwide celebration," said Mayor Rob Burton. "As a community that is a passionate and proud supporter of recreational sports in Oakville we hope the torch will inspire all our athletes to reach for their dreams," said Adams. "After all, the young athletes of today may be the Olympians of tomorrow." Taylor Amos, a 15-year-old, Grade 10 student at White Oaks Secondary School, will be carrying the Olympic torch on Sunday in Niagara-on-the-Lake. The speedskater with the Oakville Speedskating Club also plays soccer and is a referee for the Oakville Soccer Club. 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