Carbonear man 'honoured, humbled' to be chosen to light Olympic cauldron DANIEL MACEACHERN The Compass

A Carbonear man experienced one of his "lifelong highlights" Nov. 6 when he was chosen as a torchbearer and cauldron lighter during the Olympic torch relay in Cold Lake, Alta.

Wareham works as an aircraft structures technician as a member of the Canadian Forces at the base in Cold Lake. He said he was surprised by the selection.

"I was honoured," he said. Wareham, who was born and raised in Carbonear, was picked for his volunteer work with minor sports in Cold Lake, as well as refereeing Junior B and Senior A hockey. In the summers, he volunteers with local lacrosse teams.

Wareham said he wasn't even aware he'd been nominated. "There's a selection committee between the base and the community of Cold Lake, and my name was submitted and through the selection process I was selected."

He found out in late October that he was going to carry the torch on its final leg of Day 8 and light the cauldron for community celebrations in the town.

"I was ecstatic. I couldn't believe it," he said. "Just to be the cauldron lighter... that night was just amazing. There was well over 5,000 people (population of his hometown Carbonear) present, and it was just amazing, going through the crowd, carrying the torch. To go on stage to light the cauldron, I was just ecstatic, honoured, humbled."

Wareham's portion of the run amounted to about 300 metres, which he said was "next to nothing" because he's already in good shape from his involvement in sports, but he said running with the torch itself was "a total adrenalin rush."

"It's just an amazing feeling, to hold it and carry it," he said, adding that he couldn't believe the reactions of people as he passed by carrying the torch. "There was joy, there was high-fives," he said. "People were yelling, cheering, 'Yay, Brian,' 'Yay, coach.' It was amazing. The crowd was exceptional."

dmaceachern@cbncompass.ca