Day 44 and 45 Oromocto to Fredericton, New Brunswick

Day 44 in our world, October 6, 2011 in the real world. The weather changed overnite, although sunny, it was a whoppin 0 degrees celsius outside in the morning, a little bit of a shock. This shot is at the back of the Delta hotel in Fredericton.

Once again I was driving a medal bearer shuttle bus with Kayla as the host. Our first group orientation was at Ridgeview middle school in Oromocto. Our group put on a presentation for the kids in the school

Our medal bearers Eddy, on the left who is a special needs student who goes to the school, he was the first medal bearer of the day. Leroy beside him was a school teacher at the school when it first opened 50 years ago! Beside him is Kyle, another student at the school. At the end is Ryan, who is in the armed forces at CFB Gagetown, which is close to Oromocto. He is running today in honor of a friend of his who was killed in Afghanistan in an ambush

Now it's time for the kids to get up and do the warm-up dance. Here is an example of what I am talking about.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZUFN86Ck8w 

A surprise visit from Rick Hansen, no one new he was coming to this school, he was on his way to CFB Gagetown and decided to stop in.

Our next group of medal bearers met at the Fredericton City Hall council chambers. There was a mural on the wall depicting the history of Fredericton, I tried to capture it with these panoramic images

This piece of machinery was on display, ??????

This is the only way to have a meeting, this is the fifth time we have been able to use council chambers for our meetings. Of course I was in the mayors chair.

On the bus, a proud mom and dad come aboard to take a pic of their son and daughter who both ran with the medal today

The end of day celebration was at the Richard J. Currie center at the university of New Brunswick, a brand-new $62 million dollar facility, wow!

There was a demonstration wheel chair basketball game

In the center there was this poster of Dave Durepos, who just happened to be our endurance athlete, doing segments of the relay for the past two days.

Rick with the last medal bearer of the day who wheeled into the center

The traditional end of day group photo

Day 45 was another event day, with two stops , one at one of the high schools in Fredericton, and I was part of the team to attend the Stan Cassidy Center for Rehabilitation. I tried to check in but apparently it is not that kind of rehab.

It took me awhile to figure out that puzzle, at this brand new totally acessible playground and park inside the facility grounds.

The crowd was mostly dignitaries, press, and staff.

The person on the left waited 20 minutes in the cold while Rick was being interviewed by the press.

Our team for the day, Ainsley (events), Johnny (back to camera)(media), Heather (events and planning manger), Robin (marketing and communications), and Jim, (executive director) missing: me and Hank (just the drivers, lol)

This turned out to be more of a media event than a visit to the rehab center

Totally accesible rooms complete with kitchens and laundry facilities

A little birb about Stan Cassidy on the wall

Artwork by the patients

Cards, letters, and photos from the patients and their families, very moving

heartfelt letters were the order of the day

The rehabilitation exercise room

On the river in Fredericton

Government house

Back at the hotel, it was time for Marilyn (in charge of medal bearer security) and Wendy (aka lead-foot, one of the driver's)to do bike maintenance. These are the bikes used for our medal bearer escorts.

Trying to stay in shape, there are a lot of running/biking trails along the river, gorgeous day for a run

This old railway bridge was transformed into bike/walk path, it was a long way across when your puffing!

Robert Burns statue in Fredericton

A view looking back to town

the railway bridge

Another sunny day, it was a high of 6 yesterday, but it is supposed to get up to 24 on Saturday and 27 on Sunday, I guess I will have to unpack my shorts again!