Let Me See Your Spirit!

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Let me start out by saying Thursday night was one of the most fun nights I've ever had!  For those of you who don't know, the torch came through my town on Thursday and Friday.  Naturally there was a HUGE celebration where almost 8,000 people were in attendance.  That must be the biggest event my town has had in ages!  This event was exciting because I had many friends who were torch bearers which I can only imagine is the experience of a life time.

The event was held at the Brennan Park Recreation Centre.  A massive stage with a screen was erected in the parking lot where there was standing room only during the show.  Some of the performances we witnessed were: Acrobats, Bands, Choirs, Percussion groups and Bhangra Dancers.

I performed with one of the choirs.  We performed the Torch Song which has been sung by thousands of choirs throughout the country.  Our choir warmed up in the "green room", which is a fancy word for the rec. centre's junior lounge, with the Coca-Cola Acrobats.  They stretched and worked out for about an hour and a half.  At one point the women sat in the splits for 20 minutes!  We didn't know who they were until they got onstage and we realized we had been in the same room as celebrities!

We got to stand in the crowd as we awaited the arrival of the torch and the energy was very high.  The MC was extremely good at keeping the crowd motivated and moving.  I swear we danced for an hour while we were waiting for the torch.

The torch arrived right on time carried in by Kristen McBride.  She was voted citizen of the year.  She is nothing short of spectacular.  She is wheelchair bound but that doesn't stop her from doing amazing work in our community.  I'm not going to lie, seeing her bring the torch up the ramp to the stage and lighting the cauldron set the crowd in awe.  It was beautiful.  She was the perfect person for such an honour as this.

When it was our turn to take the stage, the adrenaline started pumping.  We took the stage after the school choir sung O Canada.  Walking onto that stage was nothing short of amazing.  Looking out into that crowd of 8,000 of your closest friends is beautiful.  The song we sung has 2 parts.  There's the singing part and then there is the clapping stomping routine.  It was hard to learn but it sounded so cool.

The night ended with a half an hour of fire works.  They were gorgeously set up and they had the whole crowd's attention.  Over all, it was night I won't soon forget.  It's a shame that this kind of thing doesn't happen more often in my community, but I am glad I was able to share it with my close friends and the world.