The Olympic Torch will be in Bathurst Nov. 27

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Peter Assaff
the Northern Light

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BATHURST - When the Olympic Torch Relay makes its way to Bathurst later this month, Brad McLellan will have the honour of running on stage and lighting the cauldron.

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Peter Assaff/Northern Light Photo

Community torchbearer Brad McLellan and Canadian Olympian Kara Grant with an Olympic Torch similar to the one that McLellan will carry when the Olympic Torch Relay arrives in Bathurst on Nov. 27. Mrs. Grant, who is from Stratford, P.E.I., represented Canada in the pentathlon at both the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics.

The Bathurst businessman and basketball coach was named Bathurst's community torch bearer at a news conference last Sunday at the K.C. Irving Regional Centre.

"It is just a real honour," said McLellan, who was introduced to the media by Bathurst Mayor Stephen Brunet.

"My family and I have been sitting on this secret for a while so it is kind of nice that it is out of the bag," smiled the operations manager for both McDonald's Family Restaurant locations in Bathurst, who helped guide the boys' basketball team at Bathurst High School to a provincial title last spring. "When I first found out, I was really overwhelmed, I was really caught off guard."

The 2010 Olympic Winter Games will be held in Vancouver and Whistler, B.C. next February and the Olympic Torch began a cross-Canada journey leading up to that event last week. The torch will make its way through more than 1,000 communities throughout the country and be carried by more than 12,000 torch bearers on its way to the Olympic Opening Ceremonies in Vancouver on February 2010. The City of Bathurst has been chosen as one 189 celebration communities along that route, and will welcome the Olympic Torch on Nov. 27.

Although the vast majority of torchbearers were chosen through contests run by Olympic sponsors RBC and Coca-Cola, a community torchbearer for each celebration community was selected by VANOC (the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee) from three nominations from each host committee.

"It was a very hard decision because there are many, many people in our community that are also deserving of such a thing," said city councillor Ann-Marie Gammon, chairwoman of the Bathurst Olympic Torch Relay Committee.

"Brad was selected for his unwavering commitment to the community, his ongoing contribution to local sports and also his quiet and strong leadership style that has helped in so many ways in our area," said Brunet, who noted McLellan's family have been outstanding community supporters for a long time. "He is admired and respected by many, and he is very deserving of the honour to represent Bathurst during this historic event. Brad's dedication to our community represents well the Olympic values of peace, brotherhood and friendship."

The Olympic Torch will make its way through the city arriving at the K.C. Irving Regional Centre at 7 p.m., where McLellan will run the final 300 metres and light a 1.3 metre high celebration cauldron kicking off a two-hour long celebration that Gammon promises will be "unforgettable".

"I'm a pretty nervous guy," joked McLellan during Sunday's news conference. "Standing up here my heart's kind of running already, so Nov. 27 I'll be able to catch up with it, hopefully."

"I'm kind of a pretty shy guy, I don't like too much attention," he told The Northern Light. "But when they told me, I said that would be something that would definitely be a real honour to be a part of."

McLellan said he is proud to call Bathurst his home, and said that makes the honour that much more special.

"I'm extremely lucky to live in Bathurst, and it is an honour to say I'm from Bathurst," he concluded.

)"We have an amazing community. It is a real family. Just to be representing Bathurst is a real honour."