Residents turn out for torch

Peninsula residents turned out in thousands on Monday, October 16, to cheer for the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Torchbearers.

School children and teachers from every school on the Peninsula cheered and waved, with many having taken a great deal of trouble to prepare handwavers, flags, green and gold balloons and masks to add to the occasion.

Residents, hospital patients, pre-schoolers and business people joined the students to create a virtual line of people, in some places two or three deep, on both sides of the street for the entire route through the Peninsula to Mt. Ettalong Road.

Member for Peats Ms Marie Andrews said: "It was wonderful for the Peninsula to be given this opportunity to be a part of this momentous and historic event.

"To have the Paralympic Torch pass through our local area was a great honour and one which people from all walks of life could enjoy," she said.

The relay entered the Peninsula from Kincumber along Empire Bay Drive passing through Empire Bay and Daleys Point then crossing the Rip Bridge.

It then travelled through Ettalong CBD, on to Woy Woy CBD via Blackwall, along Blackwall Rd and then on to Umina along Ocean Beach Rd.

Torchbearer Pam Pritchard ran the leg which ended outside Ettalong Public School.

A member of Rotary Turramurra, Pam was selected as a torchbearer because of her long involvement promoting the Paralympic Games.

When asked how she enjoyed the run, Pam said, "It was fantastic. The school kids at Ettalong made it really special."

Pam passed on the flame to Tracey Millar who had been keeping large numbers of Ettalong students entertained as she showed them her torch while she waited for her turn to participate in the relay.

Tracy was selected because of her work with SOCOG where she had been working on the organisation of the games from the outset four years ago.

Waiting for his turn to receive and run with the flame on Blackwall Rd was Aaron Hamstra.

Aaron lives in Umina and attends Woy Woy High School which nominated him to represent the region.

Aaron is the school athletics champion, has competed in Combined High School Athletics for the past four years and, in 1999, competed at State level in the under-14 discus events.

Surrounded by students from Woy Woy High and Public Schools, Aaron was clearly excited about the run and his new found fame as he showed the students the torch and how it worked.

Aaron received the flame from John Pakarinen who was running as a representative of the Finnish Community.

The torch relay was held over a 14-day period with its route through the Peninsula being on day 12.

There were a total of 920 torchbearers in the relay which travelled between eight and 10 hours each day.

The final part of the torch relay on the Peninsula saw it travel from Mt. Ettalong to Patonga where a large crowd was waiting on land and on sea.

The final Peninsula runner was Sydney Swan Brad Seymour.

The relay passed through the small town and then onto the wharf and aboard The Spirit, where the cauldron was lit to the cheers of many spectators.

The Gosford City Rural Fire Services' Fire Boat led a flotilla of water craft in a procession which saw the Paralympic flame transferred to Palm Beach.

The procession included boats from NSW Waterways, Water Police, Royal Volunteer Coastal Patrol, Coast Guard vessels, Warringah/Pittwater Rural Fire Services' Fire Boats, ferries and spectator craft.

The three fire boats had all water cannons firing setting up a brilliant water display in bright sunshine as a fitting farewell to the relay from the Central Coast.

The Patonga community arranged a sausage sizzle and entertainment for the large crowd.

"A very joyous occasion, a great farewell," said Gosford resident, Mrs Dorothy Hanney, who travelled with many other people to Patonga especially for the occasion.

Cec Bucello, October 17