Greetings from your UN-official Chiff & Fipple Olympic correspondent, Cees!
[I thought since I live right here in SLC I could share with all you great Chiff & Fipplers some of the activities and excitement of the 2002 Winter Olympics and some local, eye-witness stuff you can’t get on TV.]
Last night (Thursday, one day before Opening ceremonies) I went downtown with my husband, sisters, a brother-in-law, and our children. We bundled up to brave the cold weather and waited excitedly in a crowd of many thousands for the Olympic Torch to make its way down a block of South Temple street before going back to State Street. The crowd’s excitement was palpable…even though it was very cold, no one seemed to mind. Policemen on motorcycle, cars, and horseback kept a visible presence but the crowds were very polite. The cheering and screaming from the crowds almost overpowered the loud thundering of media helicopters overhead as the torch was handed off to LDS Church president Gordon B. Hinckley for a few words about the historic occasion and a salute to the athletes and the world.
After the torch was handed off, the crowds dispersed and everyone headed a few blocks south to Washington Square, site of a big outdoor stage where live acts will be going on every day of the games starting at about 10a.m.-1:30 every night. My sisters and I had to run back to put the kids to bed and left the husbands with them while we ran back downtown to join in the festivities. As we rounded the corner we were greeted with a massive fireworks display shot from the roof of the City & County building. Four amazing Olympians (Kristi Yamaguchi, John Stockton, Steve Mahre and Chris Waddell) ran up a ramp and lit a torch in front of the stage, where it burned as Gladys Knight and a large choir of adults and children sang a song for the torch.
Afterward, my sisters and I waited outside one of the City & County building’s doors to see if any celebrities would come out. Hardly anyone else was there. Gladys Knight came out, escorted by her husband and three adorable children (I assume these were her family). She was very gracious and charming. A few minutes later we were the only ones still standing there when Kristi Yamaguchi and her family came out! It was so thrilling to be so close to her since figure skating is one of my favorite things to watch and she’s always been my favorite skater.
We closed our evening with some food and warmth at a local fast food joint, then headed home to join our families. It was a great and never-to-be-forgotten evening.
Cees, your un-official Chiff & Fipple Olympic correspondent
PS If anyone is interested, I could give more updates about Olympic doings here. I live a few minutes away from downtown and won’t be there every day, but do plan to go there quite a bit. Washington Square, as I mentioned, is having free concerts of music and dancing all day every day, including local Celtic groups Fiddlesticks, Stone Circle, and Idlewild (the last with guest-star-fellow-Chiff & Fippler Brian Dobson), as well as Irish step-dancing shows and many other performances from countries around the world.
PPS For more news, check out
http://wintersports2002.com/oly/view/0,3949,70000144,00.html?
[Edit: For the above link to work, you’ll have to copy and past it into your browser. It doesn’t fit in one line and so it isn’t showing up as one unified link. Sorry! I don’t know how to make it work right.]
[ This Message was edited by: Cees on 2002-02-08 12:31 ]
