St. Catharines Downtown Association

 

Splashed in red and white, St. Catharines couple Carole and Ronald Anderson were dripping with Olympic spirit and Canadian pride.

Besides his candy cane-striped scarf and jacket, Ronald, 70, carried a massive Maple Leaf flag, and wore matching patriotic costume glasses through the streets of the city's core on Sunday afternoon.

"We just have this stuff," said 65-year-old Carole Anderson, one of about 6,000 people who jammed Market Square for the Olympic torch relay celebration and Winter Solstice party that followed. "We're very Canadian."

The real excitement for the couple came with the arrival of the torch, and joining in the thunderous cheers alongside thousands of others as torchbearer Mike Accursi carried the flame to the mainstage and lit the cauldron.

"It's excitement and adrenaline," Ronald said during the Winter Solstice party afterward.

"It just gets you worked up and brings Canada together."

After the flame fled downtown St. Catharines, James Street came alive in wintery fashion.

Adults tippled wine at the Jackson-Triggs Winery and Inniskillin Wines ice bar patio.

Artists did ice sculptures.

Ojibway storyteller Aaron Bell and the White Pine Dancers told native tales on a stage set up near the slide.

Children took turns flying down a 12-metre slide sculpted from ice on James Street.

Standing in line for the slide with her five-year-old daughter Kara, Katie Boychuck said it was nice to see people flocking to the downtown core.

"Anything that brings the community together and brings people in to celebrate the city is very important," said Boychuck, a downtown resident.

Sipping some wine with friends Sunday afternoon at the ice bar, downtown resident Kareem Albasel said he gets to see the city's core everyday and reflect on the promise it holds.

"We get to see the potential of it with something like today," Albasel said.

"I think more of this kind of thing needs to happen to get more people downtown."

Lead event organizer Kimberly Hundertmark said she couldn't have asked for a better turnout and event.

The St. Catharines Community Task Force spent a year planning the ode to Olympics and winter.

"There was this anticipation, and there was a pride that I don't think I've ever seen in our city before," Hundertmark said after the torch ceremony.

"Everybody was just really proud to be a Canadian. It didn't matter what culture you came from you were a Canadian today."

Please see story in The St. Catharines Standard by M. Beech at:

http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2230778