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Torch arrives at Peguis
KEN GIGLIOTTI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Enlarge Image
Peguis Chief Glenn Hudson (left), elders Garry McCorrister with staff and Floyd Sutherland greet Peguis torchbearers Kiinnan Stevenson-French and Kyle Prince as they are escorted by fellow First Nations community members Wednesday afternoon.
PEGUIS FIRST NATION - The odour of burning sweetgrass wafted through the air as the Olympic flame arrived here this afternoon.
Two local runners carried the torch to the community's mall, where a band elder blessed the torches and prayed for the community and the Olympic movement.
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Kiinan French, 15, ran the torch onto a stage set up outside the mall.
"It feels heavy after carrying it so long. I was nervous and I'm just speechless," said French, who was nominated by his school to carry the torch because of his good marks in Grade 10.
Hundreds of community members lined the roads leading to the mall to follow the torch bearers while drummers kept a beat.
Despite earlier speculation about possible protests, the flame got a peaceful reception at the community of 7,200 people about 145 kilometres north of Winnipeg
"It's not the place to do it, and our people understand," said Peguis Chief Glenn Hudson about protests.
In Gimli earlier today, under a light snowfall, the torch was lit at Gimli Park and carried down the street by the first torchbearer, Leah Gair, 19.
Around the corner a few hundred metres away, Gair touched torches with Premier Greg Selinger, who smiled briefly and talked to the crowd before running off.
"When you're No.2 (torch runner) you try harder," quipped Selinger.
Selinger said earlier he could have run with the torch in Winnipeg but decided that, because there were so many torchbearers in the city already, he chose Gimli.
By 10:15 a.m., the torch was on its way from the Gimli municipal offices to the docks on Lake Winnipeg just a few blocks away, and then to the famous Viking statue for another picture opportunity.
From Gimli, the torch heads to Peguis First Nation and then winds up the day in St. Laurent on the east side of Lake Manitoba.
On Thursday, the flame is back in Winnipeg.
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