Pan Am games torch to pass through Vaughan

YorkRegion.com
Oct. 2, 2014
By Adam Martin-Robbins

The Pan Am games torch is going to light up Vaughan next year and you have a chance to be among the thousands of people who will help carry the flame toward its final destination.

Organizers of the TORONTO 2015 Pan Am/Parapan Am games unveiled the torch relay route Wednesday afternoon.

Vaughan is one of 51 “major celebration communities” that will welcome the flame during its 41-day journey to the cauldron lighting that officially opens the games July 10, 2015.

“It’s an honour for the City of Vaughan to have been chosen as a major celebration community for the TORONTO 2015 Pan Am Torch Relay,” Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua said in a news release Wednesday. “One of Vaughan’s great strengths is its diversity and we look forward to welcoming the Pan Am flame next spring.

“As a growing community with a strong sporting tradition, we are excited to be participating in this incredible event that will unite people of all ages in a celebration of sport and culture.”

You can apply to be among the 3,000 torchbearers who get to take part in the relay.

Applications can be submitted online at TORONTO2015.org/torch-relay by Dec. 1 at 11:59 p.m.

In order to qualify, you must be Canadian citizen or legal resident of Canada and 13 years of age or older as of May 30, 2015.

Along with the public application process, torchbearers will also be chosen

by torch relay route communities and other games stakeholders

The relay begins in May with a traditional Aztec lighting ceremony at the Pyramid of the Sun in Teotihuacan, Mexico.

The Canadian leg of the journey begins May 30 when the flame arrives in Toronto.

From there it will visit Calgary, Winnipeg, Montreal, Halifax and the Greater Vancouver Area as well as 130 communities across Ontario.

The Pan Am Games runs July 10 to 26 while the Parapan Am Games takes place Aug. 7 to 15.

Close to 7,000 athletes from across Latin America, South America, the Caribbean and North America will compete in 36 Pan Am sports and 15 Parapan Am sports.