CALGARY – It’s been a while since Paul Hopfner dusted off his old 1988 Olympic Torch Relay jacket.
If there ever was a perfect time, though, to haul it out from the back of the closet, it’s on a sunny Sunday afternoon in the town of Taber.
This is a special occasion without equal: not only is he watching the Olympic Torch come back to southern Alberta for the first time in 22 years, his daughter Gabriella is following in his footsteps.
Along with 18 of her classmates from Our Lady of Assumption School in Calgary — chosen for their work in fighting homeless-ness in their community — the smiling 13-year-old is giddy with excitement as she waits her turn as a torchbearer.
That’s nothing, though, compared to her dad.
"I’m as excited today as I was then," says Hopfner, hugging his daughter just before she sets off on her run. "It’s bringing all the great memories of 1988 back."
As the Olympic Torch Relay winds its way through southern Alberta en route to its arrival today just after 4 p.m. at the southernmost end of Calgary’s Macleod Trail, it’s clear that on Day 80 of the criss-cross-country relay, it hasn’t lost its magic touch.
Even in places where it seems like people aren’t as excited, there’s more than meets the eye.
In Medicine Hat, only a few hundred wake early enough to head down to the city’s main street to witness the before-sunrise run of the torch.
That’s partly because thousands already made their acquaintance with it the night before, at a bash held at the Saamis Teepee, its hometown girl singer Terri Clark almost as big a draw as the visiting torch.
Still, even a small turnout on Sunday morning doesn’t dampen the enthusiasm of the torchbearers.
"Absolutely surreal," says 17-year-old Medicine Hat native Conor Standford after his run through the downtown. "I knew it was going to be good, but the feeling I had when it really happened, it was better than I ever expected. I’m still in shock."
As the morning sun begins to warm up this usually quiet, rural part of the province to a welcome above-freezing temperature, Olympic Torch fever begins to rise in the communities big and small that line the Crowsnest Highway between the ‘Hat and Lethbridge.
"We’ll be going to church right after this," says a smiling Troy Strandberg in the hamlet of Seven Persons, as he, his wife Pamela and his brood of seven young children watch Allen Leitert of Medicine Hat run down the street with his lit torch.
"We prefer the country life," says Strandberg, who jokes that thanks to his family, there are a few more than seven persons in this dot on the map. "But it’s fun when something this big comes through our little part of the world."
By mid-morning, torch fever boils over on the stretch of the Crowsnest as the noisy Olympic caravan approaches Bow Island, a town of about 1,700, mostly hockey-mad souls that proudly calls itself "Bean Capital of the West."
Members of the local Rebel minor hockey league team show up on the side of the highway dressed in team jerseys, their faces painted white with red Maple Leafs on each cheek, wildly waving Olympic banners.
"He didn’t get much sleep last night," says Christina Wyllie of her six-year-old son Domonic.
"These kids are big hockey fans, and big Olympics fans," she says of the smaller residents of the town proud of its hometown boy, former NHL star Troy Loney. "This is huge for them."
While Burdett may be a hamlet of only about 300, they show almost as much Olympic fervour as bigger Bow Island.
"We’re a small community, but you couldn’t find a friendlier place," says Doris Campbell, while enjoying coffee and doughnuts at the Burdett hall a few minutes before the torch’s arrival.
"I’ve lived here 60 years, and things like this don’t happen very often. Of course we’re going to throw a party."
Even tiny Burdett has an Olympic connection.
Frances Thacker proudly wears her red-and-white 1988 Seoul sweater, a gift from her former foster son, Brent Kosolofski, who competed in that summer Olympics as a boxer.
"We’re all pretty excited about getting to be a part of the Vancouver Olympics," says Thacker, who’s lived her entire life in the area perfect for growing alfalfa and potatoes, and raising cattle.
As the evening sun begins to set on the city of Lethbridge, the Olympic torch continues to work its magic on its final stop of the day.
Four Canadian Pacific workers, representing 116 years of railway experience, move the Olympic cauldron across the bridge via a vintage rail hand car powered only by human strength — an Olympic first. While a gathering of several hundred lining the tracks whistle and cheer their approval, breaking into a spontaneous rendition of O Canada, Roger Brown can barely restrain his emotions.
"I’m so shook up," says the 31-year CP rail mechanic, looking around at the crowd congratulating him and his team.
"Just look at the people, look at everyone having a good time," he says, stopping for a moment as his voice breaks. "It’s all about Canada."
vfortney@theherald.canwest.com
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