Shauna Kennedy couldn’t be a happier or prouder person... and for good reason. The Port Perry woman has been selected as one of the lucky Canadians to take part in the 2010 Olympic Torch Relay.
When asked how she was chosen for such a prestigious honour, Shauna explains that although she’s not an avid sports fan, she’s always liked and watched the Olympics, especially the winter Olympics.
SHAUNA KENNEDY
She was intrigued by the chance to carry the torch for Canada, so on the urging of family members, Shauna entered two contests last February, one sponsored by RBC and the other by Coca Cola, for torch bearers.
Round one of the competition offered an opportunity to receive a ballot every day to answer a question that focused on either active living or the environment. “My daughter made sure I answered the daily questions after she returned from school, and it was fun to have her participate,” she said.
About six weeks later, she was notified by the Coca Cola Company she had been selected to advance to round two of the competition. At this point, she was given two weeks to submit a short essay that demonstrated how she ‘lives Olympic’ through either an example of active living or environmental awareness.
Shauna‘s essay made the point that “Living Olympic” means to live with intent. “I have found that I am far more successful with things when I make a true goal, and that it makes the entire process so much more enjoyable. Things are easier to achieve when you do them for a reason that’s bigger than yourself,” she wrote in her submission.
In June she finally received an email informing her she had been selected as a “potential torch bearer,” but had to undergo an RCMP security check as well as sign waivers.
Finally in August, while on vacation in Nova Scotia, she received an email asking her to contact the company. That call changed her life when she heard “congratulations, you have been selected to carry the torch.”
“I was in a friend’s car on our way to Rissers Beach on the south shore for the long weekend. That was the best day ever,” she says with a big smile.
For Shauna and her family the whole experience has been surreal. “Taking chances and going for it is unusual for me, but it has given me confidence to try other things now,” she smiles.
And one of those “other things” is a challenge she’s wanted to take on for the past 20 years... graduate from university. So she applied and was accepted into a full program as a mature student at Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia.
“It’s an opportunity I have to take,” she said. And despite having to leave her nine-year old daughter Deirdre at home with her father and grandmother when she starts her courses in January, she feels it will be a good thing for the entire family.
“I’m finally doing something I’ve wanted to do for such a long time,” she says.
But first things first! Right now she is focused on the exciting 300 metre walk she’ll make with the Olympic Torch when it comes through this area later this month.
Shauna’s leg of the relay begins on the outskirts of Bailieboro (near Peterborough) and takes her into the town starting about 6 p.m. on Tuesday, December 15. She’s hoping there will be lots of people from Scugog there to cheer her along.
All of the torch bearers have been provided a full Olympic outfit, including a suit, mitts and toque, which she is allowed to keep. And Shauna has jumped at the chance to purchase the torch which she will carry, despite the $350 cost.
“I’ll never have this opportunity again,” she says.
If you’d like to show your support for Shauna here’s where and when you can find her.
Date: December 15th, 2009
Time: Approximately 6 p.m.
Location: Hwy 28 (north of Port Hope), heading north from the “Welcome To Bailieboro” sign. She will carry the Olympic Torch for about 300 meters to the pedestrian crossing. Her torchbearer number is ‘OTR047-146’.
~ HEATHER DART ~
Focus on Scugog learned just before going to press last month that a second Scugog woman, Heather Dart, will be carrying the Olympic Torch as it passes through the area.
Like Shauna, Heather applied online to become a torch bearer earlier this year. After unsuccessfully attempting to access the Coca Cola application deadline, she thought she had missed her opportunity.
Then, after hearing RBC was also looking for torch bearers she immediately applied and says she was “shocked, happy and surprised” when she heard back that she had been accepted.
Her official notification came in September, learning the news while competing in a triathlon at the World Championships with the Canadian ‘National Triathlon Team’. The event was taking place at Gold Coast, in the Queensland area of Australia.
A self-confessed sports fan, Heather remembers travelling to Greece when she was 11 years old and visiting ‘Olympia’ the site of the first Olympic games. “I am very keen and have always been interested in sports, so I jumped at the opportunity to carry the torch,” she says with a big smile.
Heather’s section of the torch run takes place in Oshawa on December 16 and she says she’s not sure if she’ll walk, run or jog.
“It will be an exciting day and I am really looking forward to it,” she says.
And like her counterpart, Heather also plans to purchase the torch. “It’s a little expensive, but it will be an early Christmas present for me,” she smiles.
Here is where you can come out and support Heather on her 300 metre adventure.
Date: December 16th, 2009
Time: Approximately 5:57 p.m.
Location: 2015 Simcoe St. North (Oshawa). She will run/walk south from this address to approximately Niagara Drive.
The Olympic Torch Relay is designed to reach the greatest number of Canadians possible. On February 12, 2010, the flame’s Canadian journey, which covers over 45,000 km across the country, will end in Vancouver, lighting the Olympic cauldron in a dramatic and moving opening ceremony before a global audience of billions.
J. Peter Hvidsten
Focus on Scugog
Personalities
