Beaconsfield keeps Olympic spirit aflame with torch ceremony

Beaconsfield is set to become one of 27 municipalities in Quebec to host a community celebration next year as the Olympic Torch for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics games passes through, town officials revealed during an emotional press conference Monday morning.

"It was a day this day we all remember," said city councillor Jimmy Hasegawa, recalling how he and a group of fitness class students he had been training back in the day were chosen to be Olympic Torch relay carriers in 1976, when the summer games were held in Montreal.

Hasegawa had initiated a fitness group in 1972, when the Beaconsfield Recreation Centre was newly built. Four years later, the centre's director Herb Linder approached him and asked him if he and his team wanted to be a part of the relay team.

Monday was clearly an emotional moment for the councillor as he held up a souvenir album of the '70s event prepared by his wife, tears in his eyes.

Bringing Hasegawa's involvement with Beaconsfield and the Olympics full circle, Mayor Bob Benedetti announced Hasegawa as head of the Beaconsfield task force which will devise the celebrations to take place on Dec.8, 2009, when the torch will pass through the West Island municipality.

"Beaconsfield will represent this part of the island as a community," Benedetti said. According to official information from the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Committee, the torch will also pass through Ste. Anne de Bellevue and Baie d'Urfé in the West Island before it arrives to Beaconsfield, and it will go past Dollard des Ormeaux, Kirkland, Pointe Claire and Dorval on the next day. However, only Beaconsfield will hold a community celebration.

Benedetti said he is unsure why Beaconsfield was selected as a community celebration area. "It's a wonderful place and I guess (the Vancouver Olympics Committee) recognizes this," he said.

He was contacted by a member of that committee last summer and asked if Beaconsfield would be interested. "I think it's going to be a wonderful thing," Benedetti said.

Also present at the conference were Royal Bank of Canada spokesperson Bernard Crevier and Coca Cola spokesperson Nicolas Pouliot.

"We don't frequently have the chance to see these beautiful occasions," Crevier remarked. "RBC's very proud to be part of it," he said.

According to Crevier, the Royal Bank of Canada is currently looking for Canadians interested in being torch bearers. Candidates should go to the RBC website and enter their information, as well as explain how they want to contribute to making Canada a better country.

As another of the Vancouver Olympic Games' official sponsors, Coca-Cola is playing a similar role. According to Pouliot, visitors to the soft drink giant's website also have a chance to become Torch carriers. However, they have to fill out a questionnaire on what they do to promote a healthy lifestyle, and what they would for the environment.

Benedetti said there is no budget yet for the Olympic Torch celebrations, but he estimated it might be around $5,000.