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Canwest News Service
As the Olympic Torch Relay makes its way across the country, the flame — or more accurately the 200 people that accompany it on its journey to Vancouver — took a break Thursday.
The relay team had the day off in Fredericton before moving on to Miramichi and Bathurst Friday.
Part of Friday's relay includes a on board a fishing boat in Shippagan, located about 100 kilometres east of Bathurst. It won't be the first time the flame has travelled on water since its cross-Canada odyssey began on Oct. 30 in Victoria.
On the third day of the relay, when the torch was on Vancouver Island, it got a lift in a canoe and on a surf board.
Wednesday the Olympic flame made its way through the New Brunswick capital as torchbearers passed it every few blocks.
Just before the end of the relay parade, Olympic silver medallist Marianne Limpert of Fredericton took the flame in the city's downtown and ran it onto a stage where she lit a cauldron that held the flame for a ceremony.
At the end of the show, torch relay organizers transferred some of the fire into a lantern for safekeeping.
Normally the flame would be stored for less than 24 hours, as the team moves it to the next location, but since the torch runners had a day off, the lantern was kept under constant surveillance in a secret location in the Delta Fredericton hotel.
Bob Stellick, a spokesman for RBC, one of the relay's main sponsors, said the Vancouver Organizing Committee takes special care to ensure the flame stays lit.
"VANOC makes sure . . . the torch is properly taken care of each night," he said, adding there is a rotation of flame watchers.
Delta Fredericton general manager Sara Holyoke said there was a lot of excitement around the premises the past two days.
"We've been the host to a number of big events, but this is a once in a lifetime event for sure," she said.
Wednesday afternoon, the flame was placed in the hotel lobby where guests and staff had a photo opportunity, she said.
Hotel employees also went onto the roof to get an overhead view of the secondary parking lot full of relay vehicles, including more than a dozen short buses and RVs bearing the Vancouver 2010 logo, along with seven transport truck and dozens of cars and vans.
"It feels amazing to be able to host the flame for the Olympics because there's so much history to it," Holyoke said. "It's something we will all be able to tell stories about in the future."
Scott Tabachnick, a spokesman for Coca-Cola's sponsorship of the relay said the day in Fredericton was a good opportunity for the team to rest.
Their last day off was in Halifax last week. "There's so much energy put in every day to make sure that everyone is touched by the torch and the Olympics," he said. "Having the odd day off really helps to recharge some of those batteries."
Stellick said the response from the New Brunswick crowds has been great.
"New Brunswick has been really, really strong," he said. "It will be interesting to see how this builds as it goes through Canada, because it's off to a fabulous start. Certainly the weather has helped."
He said the relay team, which includes people from across the country and around the world, has been impressed by Atlantic hospitality and the excitement the crowds have shown.
"It feels a lot like the Fourth of July … The relay is expected to cross the country twice; appear at a total of 34 national historic sites and parks; cover 45,000 kilometres and include 12,000 Canadian torchbearers before it's taken into Vancouver's BC Place Stadium for the opening ceremonies of the Winter Games Feb. 12.
THE TORCH TODAY
– TODAY, ON DAY 29, THE TORCH IS IN NEW BRUNSWICK
Fredericton, 6:21 a.m.
Taymouth, 7:07 a.m.
Boiestown, 7:44 a.m.
Doaktown, 8:51a.m.
Blackville, 9:40 a.m.
Newcastle, 10:36 a.m.
Miramichi, 11:09 a.m.
Douglastown, 12:37 p.m.
EsgenoÙpetitj, 1:26 p.m.
Neguac, 1:31 p.m.
Tracadie-Sheila, 2:29 p.m.
Shippagan, 3:37 p.m.
Caraquet, 4:45 p.m.
Grande-Anse, 5:26 p.m.
Bathurst, 6:23 p.m.
sunday, on Day 10, it travels
– FRIDAY, ON DAY 30, THE TORCH IS IN NEW BRUNSWICK
Bathurst, 7:01 a.m.
Beresford, 7:46 am.
Oqpi'kanjik, 9:03 a.m.
Dalhousie, 9:41 a.m.
Campbelton, 10:17 a.m.
Atholville, 11:03 a.m.
Kedgwick, 12:10 p.m.
Saint-Quentin, 1:06 p.m.
Grand-Sault/Grand Falls, 2:24 p.m.
Saint-LÈonard, 4:41 p.m.
Sainte-Anne-de-Madawaska, 5:04 p.m.
RiviËre Verte, 5:32 p.m.
Edmundston, 5:53 p.m.
Madawaska, 6:14 p.m.
– TODAY'S NOTABLE TORCHBEARER: TANYA RIDEOUT, MIRAMICHI
Tanya Rideout believes every person should live a healthy lifestyle, both mentally and physically. As a high-school math teacher, she challenges her students to use their critical thinking skills to grow and learn.
– BY THE NUMBERS
The torch will travel 45,000 km, visit more than 1,000 communities and be carried by 12,000 torchbearers over its 106-day journey.
Here are the numbers at the end of Day 28:
– Communities visited: 245
– Torchbearers: 2,626
– Kilometres travelled: 20,664.5
– Kilometres travelled Thursday: 0
– Kilometres today: 402
– DID YOU KNOW?
The Tracadie-Sheila is a derivative from the mikmak word Telagadik, which means, in the native language, a camping place. The actual location of Tracadie — population 4,474 — is where the Mikmak people used to camp while on fishing and hunting expeditions.
Boiestown — which is part of Ludlow Parish, population 1,568 — boasts nearby attractions like Priceville Footbridge, the longest suspension footbridge in New Brunswick, and Nelson Hollow Bridge, the oldest covered bridge in the province.
– BEARING THE TORCH
Organizers say the torch will travel in 100 different ways during the relay. Here's what we've seen so far:
– plane
– foot
– car
– canoe
ï bike
– rowing scull
– logging truck
– surf board
– skateboard
– wheelchair
– sno-cat
– dogsled
– snowshoes
– chuckwagon
– tundra buggy
– Newfoundland dory
– curling ice
– Bluenose II schooner
– zamboni
– horse-drawn carriage
– crutches
– buffalo mine clearing vehicle
– - -
More torch trivia at vancouversun.com/torch
More Olympic coverage at vancouversun.com/2010
