From Deseret News archives:
'Hearty greetings' from S.L. to Torino
This was yesterday morning midafternoon Torino time not long after Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson got off his bicycle at the Town Hall and, on behalf of the people of Salt Lake City, Utah, delivered a copper cannister to his counterpart in Torino, Mayor Sergio Chiamparino.
The message on the parchment inside the cannister began: "To the citizens of Torino, we send you hearty greetings and best wishes as you are about to welcome the world for the 2006 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. May the Games provide a means for people from throughout the world to come together in peace, celebration and goodwill."
Thus was continued the tradition that began in 1994 when the Norwegian Olympic city of Lillehammer sent a message of encouragement to Nagano, Japan, host of the 1998 Olympic Winter Games. The Norwegians thought it would be a nice touch to send their message without using fossil fuel. They even used a dog-sled along part of the route.
The people of Nagano followed suit, sending a message nonfossil-fuel style that arrived on bicycle in Salt Lake City four summers ago.
As Michael Dunn explained, the mayor was one of seven people representing Salt Lake City and Park City (Utah's other Olympic city) who bicycled several hundred miles through Europe to get the parchment to the site of the 2006 Games. This group included Sarah Wright, director of Utah Clean Energy; Bill and Celia Underwood, insurance agents from Park City; Salt Lake City deputy mayor Rocky Fluhart and his wife, Gretchen; and Tracy Lyon, Rocky's girlfriend.
I know, I know, I thought the same thing.
Why did it take seven of them?
Actually it took more than seven. Two men Jeff Niermeyer, deputy director of Salt Lake City Department of Public Utilities; and Mark Wangsgard, a Park City attorney and developer biked the parchment from Salt Lake City to New York City during April and part of May. In Manhattan, a sailboat captain named Joe Hoopes picked up the cannister and put it aboard his boat, the "Palawan," for a monthlong voyage across the Atlantic to Zeebruge, Belgium, where the two Rockys and the others stood waiting on their pegs.
Meanwhile, Tyler Curtis, Salt Lake City's event manager, sat in his office and quarterbacked everything, from routes to restaurants to hotels.
Comments
- NFL: Week 9 recap 11:17 p.m.
- Utah Utes volleyball brief 11:10 p.m.
- Photos of the week, Nov. 8 11:08 p.m.
- Sports briefs 11:07 p.m.
- Avalanche suffer 1st home loss 10:34 p.m.
- Thunder rout short-handed Magic 10:32 p.m.
- Evans helps Kings top Warriors 10:29 p.m.
- Lakers win 5th straight 10:27 p.m.
- Bystanders framed for child porn 10:27 p.m.
- WAC: Nevada drubs the Spartans 10:25 p.m.
- Gay advocates trek to LDS office
216 - House passes health care bill
199 - Lobo suspended
173 - Cougars crush hapless Cowboys
151 - Speed has never been BYU's game
136 - Utah Jazz fall apart against Kings
129 - RSL rallies to advance
103 - Thousands protest health bill
102 - Provo company innovating engines
101 - Utes pound winless Lobos
89
Why do so many people live so close to refineries in Utah and elsewhere?
NASA's Stardust probe continues to bring new knowledge about the nature...
Wow!, another good reason to stay away from pornography in ALL it's forms.
Contact the UHSAA then. Complaining on the Dnews website doesnt do anything
Whitt just said on ch 4 that Asiata is leaning toward coming back next year....
Vote Democratic-its easier than working for a living and paying your own bills!
You people are whack. It's been 6 GAMES! To the people saying that Fez and...
The MWC will play 2-3 big games per year. Alabama and Florida will play 6-7...
I am a U fan and I don't give them much of a shot on the road where TCU...
Don't be a moron. RES has been refferred to as "The Turf" for years. "The...
Is this the same Utah team that struggled against the 1-7 San Jose...
All you TCU and BYU fans are jealous! This is going to be a close game and I...


You can be the first to comment on this story.