Pan Am Torch Relay Hits Oxford

Thursday, 18 June 2015 06:26

The Pan Am Torch Relay will be making its way through Oxford County today

WOODSTOCK - Today marks the day many have been looking forward to in the Friendly City - the Pan Am Torch makes its way to the Community Complex.

Manager of Communications and Special Events for the City of Woodstock Brad Janssen breaks down how the event will take place at the Community Complex. "We've got an incredible program lined up; the more the merrier. It's going to start about 11 o'clock. A significant amount of that parking lot is going to be taken up with kiosks and sponsor booths. At about twenty to one there is going to be a lighting of the cauldron, and then the torch will make its way with an alternate mode of transportation with Janet Briggs which is going to be featuring some symbols of our heritage."

The main piece of advice being given by the group in charge is to show up early. Live entertainment and a barbecue will be out in front of the Community Complex. Brad Janssen spoke with Heart FM and told us who the torch bearers will be for the special day. "We reached out to the community and we've got this one young lad Brayden Hofman - he is wheelchair bound. He is going to be the final torch bearer who will light the cauldron. Prior to that Diane Langner who is a community champion she will be running a 250 meter increment, and Janet Briggs will be riding that alternate mode of transportation with the flame until they reach the rest of the runners."

This will be the third torch event in the last five years when the Olympic Torch and Rick Hansen's 25th Anniversary of the Man in Motion torch both made stops in the city.

Pan Am Oxford County Run Down

The Pan Am Torch will start it's Oxford County journey in Ingersoll. It's expected to arrive around 10:55 a.m. Oxford Street will be closed, as will be the Oxford Street parking lot and the Town Centre parking lot, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. for the celebration. They will have activities for school age children, a free barbeque sponsored by Tremblett's Independent Grocer, and some words from local dignitaries.

From there the Torch arrives in Woodstock. Cermonies begin at Goff Hall, The Community Complex at 11 a.m. The flame is expected to arrive at approximately 12:15 p.m. The Relay will leave at 1:15 p.m. and head east on Parkinson Road to Norwich Avenue. It then heads north on Norwich to Dundas Street and travels west along Dundas to CIBC at Graham Street. All municipal parking lots along Dundas from the pedestrian crosswalk to Graham Street will be coned off until the convoy leaves CIBC at approximately 2 p.m.

The final leg of the Oxford County journey is Tavistock - the torch should arrive at the fire station around 2:30 p.m. A brief celebration will follow before the torch hits the road again, this time on its way to Stratford