Boy Scout Troop of Saratoga

May 2, 1996: Our Scoutmaster Carries the Torch!

The "Party in the Park" started at about 6 PM with live entertainment on the stage in front of the Children's Discovery Museum. Crowds gathered in the late afternoon sunshine to visit, see the unlit cauldron (far left in photo) and prepare for the Relay. A VIP tent hosted the torch runners. The train, with it's special railroad car carrying the flame, would be pulling into the train station at about 7:30, to start the Relay itself through the darkening streets of San Jose.

Reports from the Torch Relay committee (on May 16th from Saint Louis) say that the evening festivities in San Jose were the most joyful and festive on the Run so far!

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Then we went to the hotel to meet the other runners and receive our instructions. What a neat bunch of people! Here are David (whose torch I lit), Mike (my Escort Runner), myself, and Gloria, the final runner of the evening who lit the cauldron on the stage in the Park.

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At about 7:45 we boarded out Relay Shuttle for the drive over to our segments, and torches were passed out to each of us. We spent the time on the bus finding out the "stories" behind how each runner was selected, and what it meant to each. I was dropped off at my corner (11th and San Carlos streets) by the "Torch Relay Shuttle" (shown here), where a large crowd had gathered.

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I had a few minutes to gather some of my Scouts around me for pictures. Soon, however, the motorcade bore down on me, and Lawrence jogged in to light my torch from his, using the flame that had travelled all the way from Greece.

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All the sounds! There were about 8 mountain-bike-mounted officers to clear the route, followed by official cars and a pair of police motorcycle escorts, with sirens and lights. And I could hear the whistles and cheers from my Troop's Scouts and others along the route. It was 8:45 PM in San Jose, and dusk had settled into nighttime, with a full moon rising in front of me. Leading me along the route was the camera truck (shown).

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What a thrill to be carrying THE olympic flame, greeting the crowds along the route and representing the volunteers in our community! My escort runner was Mike Cherry, an Eagle Scout from Campbell and a senior in high school.

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It's over too soon, of course, and the flame is passed to the next runners; here, I light David's torch, for the next leg of the relay. The relay proceeded along the streets of San Jose in front of San Jose State University, around Plaza/Chavez Park, and across the river.

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The flame arrived at the Guadalupe River Park, where a big celebration was in progress. Cheers went up as the flame was passed to the large cauldron, which then illuminated the area. Many in the crowd had candles, which were then lit from the Olympic Flame, lending a cheery glow to the occasion. As the celebration wound down, youngsters "borrowed" my torch for photos by their parents -- pictures commemorating the Relay that they'd just witnessed.

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The flame went on to Atlanta, where Janet Evans passed it to Mohammed Ali, as you'll all remember!

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It burned on the tower at the Olympic Stadium throughout the weeks of the Games.

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