Mission Accomplished!

It's difficult to believe it's over. After two years of planning, a lot of blood, sweat and tears, our mission to safely deliver the Flame of Hope to the World Games Opening Ceremonies was successfully completed.

What an extraordinary experience for all of us. Viewed through 108 different lenses, I think we can all confidently state that this was a fun-filled and life-changing week.

When you gather 108 people together, the majority of which with Type "A" personalities, you never know what mix of people you will get. I can say with 100% confidence, this was by far the most tight-knit group of Final Leggers I have ever been associated with. You bonded quickly and every single person seemed to have the positive attitude necessary to make this a successful event.

If there were complaints, they were very minor in nature and few, if any, ever made it to our ears. 

Each of you now shares a bond that very few Torch Runners ever get to have. The brotherhood and sisterhood of being a Final Leg Alumnus, is an incredibly small group, of which you are all now members. 

I am hoping as many of you as possible can attend the International Conference in Chicago this coming October. A portion of one of the general sessions has been carved out for us, and we will take the stage to share our video and our experiences with everyone in attendance, with the hopes of shining an even brighter light on what is arguably the pinnacle of our movement.

Until then, take what you experienced back to your programs. Share with your colleagues the impact you had on the citizens and athletes of Germany. Tell them about the thousands of people that lined the streets to catch a glimpse of the Flame of Hope and what it represents. 

If you have not done so, please take the survey Scott posted earlier. Be critical. Tell us what you think we can do better, and what you thought was a success. This truly helps us shape the experience for those who will follow in your very large footsteps.

Thank you again for everything you have done to make this such a memorable Final Leg. I am proud to say that we now share an unbreakable connection for the rest of our lives. Be safe, and see you in Chicago!

 

FINAL LEG SURVEY

It is really important to us that we get your views and feedback on how the Final Leg went.  

To that end, we have created a Final Leg Survey Form.

Please take the time to fill out the survey, providing us with your honest assessment of what went well and what was not quite so good.

CLICK HERE TO COMPLETE THE SURVEY

Thanks

Scott

Purchasing a Torch

DO YOU WANT TO PURCHASE A TORCH

Whilst the window for the Fundraising has not yet closed, and many of you will be entitled to a Final Leg Torch, Miners Lamp or both as part of the Incentive Program, there may be some of you who wish to purchase a Final Leg Torch.

It may be the case that your Program wants to purchase a Torch.  In that case, please pass on these details to your program.

The Torches are priced at USD$600 each plus shipping costs.

We have created an order form to establish the level of interest.  Billing will be done separately once the torches have been ordered.

CLICK HERE TO ORDER A TORCH

Thanks

Scott

 

 

TEAM RECOGNITION PLAQUES

The eleven boxes of Team Recognition Plaques made their way through Customs in Berlin and were released to us on Monday - just one day too late for us to be able to get them to you. 

The plaques will be returned to the US and arrangements made to ship them out to all of you.

As we see it, there are a number of shipping options available:

• If you are intending to attend the LETR International Conference in Chicago this October AND you are patient enough to wait till then, we will ship your plaque to Chicago and present it there.
• If you are not able to attend the Conference, but have someone from your LETR Program who is attending (and is prepared to take possession of your plaque) we can present it to them there.
• If you are not attending the Conference and would prefer to have the plaque shipped directly to you, we can do that.

Please be aware that by the time the plaques make their way back to Oklahoma City and clear Customs again, it may well be August before they can be shipped.

We have created a form to collect your responses and address details if relevant.

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO COMPLETE THE FORM

Thanks

Scott

Event Wrap Up Information

 

TIME TO WRAP UP THE EVENT

Many of you will read this post from the comfort of your home after a short or long flight.

The purpose of this post is not to summarise the activities undertaken during the past week or heap praise of all of you - I'll leave that to the Team Captain to look after.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you for engaging so well during the week.  There have been friendships formed that will last a life-time.

Equally importantly, I will. be creating three quick forms that I need all of you to complete.  I anticipate that the forms will be published via this Blog over the next few days.

The first relates to the delivery to you of your Final Leg Team Recognition Plaque.  You'll be asked how you want it delivered.

The second relates to the purchase of Final Leg Torches.  You (or your program) can use this form to make an order for a Torch.

The third form is a Team Survey - giving you the chance to tell us about the good things and the bad - so that we can learn and improve.

That's it for now - please keep checking on the blog over the next week to get the links to the three forms.

Scott

Our Commitment

 

Our Commitment to the Athletes

Some may look at this photo and chuckle. In reality, it's a symbol of our commitment to the athletes, and how serious we take our role as Guardians of the Flame.

Some may think that the flame lighting in Athens is theatrical, or just for show, but it is not. The two lanterns pictured above were each lit from the flame crated in the parabolic bowl inside the Zappeion Hall.  Yesterday, these two lanterns made the trek from Athens to Berlin aboard an Aegean Airlines Airbus 321, carefully escorted by myself and Greg Dawson. The process for being allowed to bring a flame aboard an aircraft is quite lengthy, and not always easy.

Part of our commitment is ensuring these flames stay lit until our mission of safely transporting the Flame of Hope to the Opening Ceremonies is complete. Only then, can these lanterns be extinguished. Until that time, each lantern must be checked each few hours to ensure they are properly fueled. 

So, if you did not know previously, you can now share with anyone who may ask the level of commitment we have not only to our movement, but to our role as Guardians of the Flame.

Can't wait to see you all in just a few days!

Flame Lighting Ceremony

FLAME LIGHTING CEREMONY A SUCCESS

The Flame Lighting Ceremony for the 2023 Special Olympics World Games took place yesterday (Wednesday 7 June) at the Zappeoin Hall in Athens.

The ceremony was rich in tradition with the highlight (obviously) being the lighting of the Final Leg Torch.  The photo shown above gives a great overhead impression of the scale of the event.  

The photos above and below show the 'High Priestess' - Special Olympics athlete Iliana Symeonidi - lighting the cauldron from the Final Leg Torch.

Following the Lighting Ceremony, over 20 Final Leg team members, in company with Greek Police Officers and community members left the Zappeoin Hall and ran to the Greek School of Athens where yet another Welcome Ceremony was conducted.

A truly memorable day - and one made all the better by the presence of so many of our Final Leg team.

Click on the YouTube icon to view a 7 minute video showing the ceremony - please forgive the embedded watermark in the video but it was the best video available at the time.

At the time of writing this blog, Team Captain Mark McCorkle, along with Greg Dawson, Gerri McCorkle and our Greek Final Leg member, Nick Angelakis are at Athens Airport preparing to fly to Berlin (after one last ceremony of course)

See you all in Berlin

Scott

 

Focus on a Torch Runner

 Jeff Wilson - New York

In the first of what I hope to be a series of posts, I wanted to share two television news reports about one of the members of our Final Leg team.

Jeff Wilson comes from Buffalo in the northern part of New York State in the US.  His daughter Halley is a Special Olympics athlete.

Recently, WGRZ - a  local TV News channels ran stories about Jeff's selection for the Final Leg team.  I thought I'd share them with you here:

Click on the YouTube images below to view the news stories

Enjoy

Scott

Flame Lighting Ceremony update

UPDATE ON THE FLAME LIGHTING CEREMONY 

Greetings from Athens

Everything is set for the lighting of the Flame of Hope at Zappeoin Hall in Athens later today.

The setting is spectacular and with thanks to Special Olympics Hellas, the ceremony is going to be amazing.

We had just over twenty Final Leg team members and their partners arrive in Athens yesterday to witness the ceremony and take part in the Torch Run out of Zappeoin Hall.

We took the opportunity last night to get together over dinner at a fantastic Greek Restaurant in the city.  Members of the Berlin LOC team joined us as well.

The Flame Lighting will take place around noon today, followed by a Torch Run to the German School of Athens where the German Embassy is hosting a welcome reception for the Flame.

Tomorrow (Thursday), the Flame of Hope departs Athens and travels to Berlin, ready for the start of the Final Leg next week.

We'll provide an update later today with some photos and video of the ceremonies.

Flight Delay Reminder

 

REMINDER ABOUT FLIGHT DELAY NOTIFICATIONS

You will all be getting ready to start your journeys to Berlin for the commencement of the Final Leg.

Please remember to let us know if you experience any flight delays.  This will help us ensure that you are met at Berlin Airport when you (finally) come in.

Let us know by sending an email to:

flightdelay@letr-finalleg.org

A message from the Chief

As we close in on our arrival in Berlin and the commencement of the Final Leg, we were thrilled to receive a video message from Chief LaMunyon.

The Chief was not able to join us in Berlin, but took the time to record a message for the Final Leg team.

Click on the photo below to view the video