‘I was in shock,’ says community torch bearer

Twenty-one years ago, eight-year-old Ramesh Ferris held a small torch bearing a piece of the Olympic flame for the 1988 Olympics in Calgary.

Twenty-one years ago, eight-year-old Ramesh Ferris held a small torch bearing a piece of the Olympic flame for the 1988 Olympics in Calgary.

Now, he has been selected as the community torch bearer who will take the flame on the final portion of its Whitehorse trek tomorrow.

“It’s a real once-in-a-lifetime honour,” he told the Star this morning.

The announcement was made this morning during a media briefing on tomorrow’s portion of the Olympic Torch Relay set to travel through Whitehorse.

“We are naming Ramesh Ferris as our community Olympic torch bearer, who will be the last torch bearer who will bring the Olympic torch up to the stage for the celebration at Shipyards Park,” Linda Rapp, the local Olympic torch organizing committee chair, told the news conference at the High Country Inn.

The Olympic torch will arrive in Whitehorse from B.C. tomorrow afternoon. Sixty-seven torch bearers, including a team of 20, will run the flame through the community before it heads to Shipyards Park.

Olympic torch sponsors Coca-Cola and RBC selected the majority of the 12,000 torchbearers from across the country. Each community was able to select the torchbearer for the final stretch through that community.

“As the Olympic Games bring to mind the spirit of dedication and hope, we could think of no better person than Ramesh Ferris to carry the torch on its final leg into the community celebration at Shipyards Park,” Rapp said, going on to cite Ferris’ Cycle to Walk campaign.

A polio survivor, Ferris hand-cycled a total of 7,110 kilometres across the country last year to raise funds and awareness on the eradication of the disease which left his legs crippled.

He would also go on to travel with Rotary International to India and assist immunization efforts there.

Despite his ongoing work to eradicate the disease, Ferris said he was surprised when city officials approached him over the summer to tell him he had been selected as the community torch bearer.

“I was in shock,” he said.

For Ferris, the flame is symbolic of hope, freedom, opportunities and so many other ideals.

“It doesn’t just speak to the athletes who have dreams,” he said.

Everyone has one dream or another, he added, whether it’s eradicating polio, completing post-secondary studies or competing at the Olympics, as so many athletes dream of.

Ferris still has great memories of the flame coming to Whitehorse before the Calgary Games.

“It was a special time for me then,” Ferris said. He recalled being forgotten in the crowd of spectators who each received their own little torches, and the flame was shared.

When it was learned a young boy had been forgotten, he was given the opportunity to light it off the flame.

“That was just a special time,” Ferris said.

While entertainment will get underway at Shipyards Park starting at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Ferris will begin hand-cycling from Strickland Street with the flame at 5:50 p.m.

He will arrive at Shipyards Park, bringing the flame up on stage at 6 p.m., when the more formal part of the celebrations will get underway.

Along with taking in the performances on stage, there will be other activities happening in the park, with residents also getting an opportunity to have their pictures taken with the torch and send messages to Olympic athletes.

“There will also be lots of food, so we’re advising that people attending the community celebrations come hungry,” Rapp said.

“There will be a number of options, including curry and spring rolls from the Fireweed Market, perogies and wild meat sausage from the Frostbite Music Society, and the Girl Guides are serving hot dogs and smokies.”

The flame is set to arrive in the territory at around 2:15 p.m. Tuesday, with the relay starting a little more than an hour later at 3:20 p.m.