Media Advisory - TORONTO 2015 Pan Am Games Torch Relay to Celebrate in Southwestern Ontario on June 17

Pan Am flame to visit Point Pelee National Park, daytime celebration at Leamington Municipal Marina and evening celebration at Victoria Park in London

TORONTO, June 14, 2015 /CNW/ - Canada's southern-most point and two of the country's most recognizable Olympians will be part of the TORONTO 2015 Pan Am Games Torch Relay, presented by President's Choice® and OLG, as the Pan Am flame visits Windsor, Essex, Leamington, Point Pelee National Park, St. Thomas and London on Day 18 of the relay.   

PACHI, the official mascot of the Games, will help kick off the day at Windsor's Dougall Avenue Public School. The Pan Am flame will then visit the southern-most part of Canada — Point Pelee National Park — and travel on a greenhouse tractor to the community celebration at Leamington Municipal Marina. The relay day will conclude in London at Victoria Park where Olympic decathlete Damian Warner will light the community cauldron.

Wednesday, June 17, 2015 (Relay Day 18: Windsor, ON to London, ON)

Leamington Municipal Marina – 12:45 p.m. (ET) (90 Robson Road, Leamington)
Day celebration:

• Community torchbearer Donny Pacheco will light the community cauldron

Point Pelee National Park – 1 p.m. (ET) (118 Point Pelee Drive, Leamington)
Photo opportunity:

• Torchbearer Mike Schlater will carry the flame to the southern-most point in Canada

London and Port Stanley Railway – 4:45 p.m. (ET) (605 Talbot Street, St. Thomas, ON)
Photo opportunity:

• Andrew Poole will take the flame along one of Ontario's oldest railways
• Noah Rolph, gold medallist in the youth national hammer throw, will carry the flame out of St. Thomas

Victoria Park – (509 Clarence Street, London)
Evening celebration:

• Christine Nesbitt, Olympic speed skating gold medallist, will pass the flame to Olympic decathlete and community torchbearer Damian Warner, who will light the community cauldron at 7 p.m.

The Pan Am Games Torch Relay is a 41-day journey that will share the Pan Am spirit in more than 130 communities. The torch relay is one of the most exciting events as it sets the stage leading up to the Games.  There will be more than 3,000 torchbearers and 180 community celebrations taking place.

Media Materials
The following torch relay items are available at TORONTO2015.org/torch-relay: relay route map, full list of communities and dates, daily highlight summaries and media vehicle registration information.

All torch relay media advisories and news releases are available on CNW. Day 18 highlight images and videos are available on Flickr by copying and pasting this URL into a web browser: https://www.flickr.com/gp/133157263@N06/9Pw33w.

The torch relay can also be followed on Twitter.

About the TORONTO 2015 Pan Am Games Torch Relay  
The TORONTO 2015 Pan Am Games Torch Relay, presented by President's Choice® and OLG, is supported by community partner CIBC, signature supporters Star Media Group and Metroland Media, Ontario Trillium Foundation and Porter Airlines, and funding parties the Government of Canada and the Province of Ontario. The torch relay will invite Canadians to celebrate and share the Pan Am spirit throughout its 41-day journey towards Toronto, the Host City of the Games.

The torch relay starts May 30, 2015, and concludes July 10, 2015, with the dramatic lighting of the cauldron at the Opening Ceremony in downtown Toronto.

The TORONTO 2015 Games are funded by the Government of Canada, the Province of Ontario, as well as Lead Partner CIBC and other partners and sponsors.

To learn more about the torch relay and when the Pan Am flame will visit a community near you, visit TORONTO2015.org/torch-relay or download the official TORONTO 2015 Pan Am/Parapan Am Games app, presented by CIBC.

SOURCE Toronto 2015 Pan/Parapan American Games

Jill MacCannell, Coordinator, marketing and communications, TO2015, 416.996.4076, [email protected]