The Weekly Albertan

“Surreal”, “exciting”, and “almost unbelievable” is how Judy Grattan described the moments prior to starting her Olympic relay torch.

Grattan, 59, a retired SAIT instructor from the Information Communications Technology faculty, is one of about 12,000 people who will have carried the Olympic torch as it travels from Ancient Olympia towards Vancouver, B.C., site of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

On Nov. 2, the fourth day of the Canadian relay, Grattan accomplished a long anticipated goal by lighting the two-kilogram torch and running for about 250 metres in downtown Comox, B.C., en route to Courtenay, just north of Nanaimo on Vancouver Island.

She said many people were cheering and waving flags.

“A whole bunch of school kids mobbed me and wanted to hold the torch,” Grattan said.

“That’s when it sort of hit me that this is something really, really, special.”

The relay began in Olympia, Greece, on Oct. 22, following a traditional lighting ceremony and was paraded in Greece for eight days before being handed over to the Vancouver Olympic Committee (VANOC).

The 2010 Olympic Torch Relay bearers then embarked on a 106-day, 45,000-kilometre cross-Canada journey—the longest relay in Olympic history.

Traditionally every country has designed their own torches giving them a more national feel, and Canada was not left behind.

According to VANOC, “The 2010 Olympic Torch takes its inspiration from the cool, crisp and modern lines that are left behind in the snow and ice from winter sports.  The fluid, dynamic shape of the torch conveys a sense of youthful optimism, and the size of the 2010 Olympic Torch shows not only that Canada is a country of bountiful size, but also has enormous potential and heart.”

Grattan said although the design was unique, she said it was hard to run with.

“It’s really awkward because if you put your arm (on the bottom of the torch) and extend it while you run, the weight is really off.”

She said even with the awkwardness she was glad to have been a part of the relay.

Grattan said she won the opportunity by entering a Coca Cola contest in which she was one of 6,000 finalists chosen and asked why they would like to be torch bearers.

Willem Sijpheer, academic chair for the journalism and digital graphics communication programs, was a torch bearer in the 1988 Calgary Olympic Games, and said he got to be there by shear luck.

He said he was friends with someone who was picked as a bearer and was invited to accompany her, but he did not expect to carry the torch. Unfortunately, he said, she was not feeling well and Sijpheer stepped in to finish her remaining distance of about three-kilometres.

“It’s something special that I’ll never forget, and I know I’ll never get that opportunity again,” he said.

Grattan agrees, and added being a torch bearer “really made you feel like this is an important part of keeping people together.”

Further leads have yet to be developed by SAIT security in the vandalism on the Cohos Commons playing field, though administration says that the repairs will be costly.

Administrators face expensive repair costs to replace the T cut from the Trojans logo at the centre of Cohos Commons field.

Students living in SAIT residence’s East Hall weren’t happy when two fire alarms went off in the course of 12 hours a few Sundays ago.

At 8 a.m. on Dec. 13, all students residing in SAIT East Hall were evacuated from their rooms, due to a pipe bursting in the main entrance. Students were sent to The Tower (new SAIT residence) or to the Senator Burns Building, while fire officials tried to contain the water and stop the massive leak.

The main entrance of SAIT East Hall residence, was flooded on Sunday due to a pipe bursting from the dropping temperatures.

Fawad Hamidi is a 20-year-old with a lot of potential, ambition and drive, but the family business is jeopardizing his future education plans.

Coming from a family who immigrated to Canada in the early 80’s from Afghanistan, Hamidi didn’t have much money and frequently offered help to his mother and father.

In 2007, Hamidi graduated from James Fowler High School after he upgraded some courses at Chinook Learning Centre with hopes of attending a post secondary institution soon after.

Last year, Hamidi planned on enrolling at SAIT and taking new media production and design, but with his older brother’s pizza business opening up, Hamidi was forced to put down the pen and pick up the pizza cutter.

The pizza store, Pangaea Pizza, is located at 4-920 Northmount Dr. N.W. across from St. Francis High School.

At first Pangaea Pizza was only being run by Hamidi’s brother, Farhad.

“He couldn’t run the store on his own, so I had to postpone school and help my brother,” Hamidi said.

As the year comes to an end, the Hamidi brothers are happy with Pangaea Pizza, receiving great feedback and enjoying an increase in customers.

But the hope that Pangaea Pizza will be stable enough for Hamidi to leave and pursue his education is still uncertain.

“We need enough income to support the store and employees but until then I have to stay,” Hamidi said.

The thought that he may be working at Pangaea longer than he intended looms over him.

If the store doesn’t pick up more business, the brothers will be unable to support a delivery driver and a cook, which would mean Hamidi would have to miss another opportunity to register for fall classes at SAIT.

Hamidi’s brother Farhad understands his brother is torn between the pizza business and school, but has faith in Pangaea.

“Business will get better for us and then he can get going with his own life,” Farhad said.

Farhad said he would never make his brother stay, and if he wanted to, he could leave tomorrow.

“Hamidi could of left long ago but he is loyal and a good brother,” Farhad said.

Pangaea is open seven days a week from 11 a.m. until midnight and the brothers are forced to work demanding days, which gives them little or no time to spend with friends and family.

“Even when I have time to go out I am drained from work and decide to stay home and catch up on sleep,” Hamidi said.

Hamidi looks at the bigger picture, and says having a family business is a great way to secure his family’s financial situation.

“If our pizza store works out, then my mother won’t have to work as hard as she does and same with my father,” Hamidi said.

“We can buy a nice house and my parents can retire.”