Hee hee hee!!!  I’m so happy!  I’ve been waiting so long and thought that I wouldn’t see the Mascots in person until Thursday (Olympic Superstore Grand Opening!) at the earliest!  (Which for a fan like me has already been a very long wait!)  I volunteered for the 2010 Winter Games Secretariat at the 2010 Commerce Centre tonight and there was a reception for the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM).  I had no idea what I would be doing when I arrived, little did I know that I would be (insert expectant pause here!) A Mascot Handler!!!  Whoa!!  So cool!!  Seriously??!!  Me and the Mascots??!!  Woohoo!!  Another nice thing was that there were a lot of Mayors, Councillors, and MLA’s.  Even the Premier Gordon Campbell managed to make it!!  (Sorry, Mascots still excite this VanFan more!)  And wonderfully there were some Olympic athletes and ActNow athletes as well!

Quatchi, Sumi, Miga, ActNow athletes and Premier Gordon Campbell at the UBCM reception!!

Check it out!!  Quatchi and Miga already have their Red Mittens!!  (Understandably Mittens don’t fit all that well on Sumi’s wings!).

Goalies Miga and Quatchi. Ref Sumi. ActNow sledge hockey athletes with Mayors from UBCM (including Coquitlam Mayor Richard Stewart in the front of the photo).

I had the chance to meet a whole lot more people that work for the 2010 Commerce Centre and the 2010 Winter Games Secretariat, including Astra:

Astra and Miga at the UBCM reception!!

And Olympic Men’s Pairs Rowing Silver Medallist from Beijing 2008, David Calder!

Astra and Olympic Silver Medallist David Calder with the Mascots!

It was a really fun event!  I hope that all the attendees from the UBCM had a great night.  And really, it emphasized to me what a great venue Robson Square is now!  I’ve been there a day after the construction was finished when things were very quiet.  I’ve been there two and three weeks since the construction finished and the new rink is being used to host cocktail parties and sledge hockey games!  As I mentioned before, the ice goes in sometime in November and I really can’t wait!  It’s already fantastic as a cement rink, I think the ice will only improve it!  Go check it out for yourself!  It is a free public venue (barring special events) and will have ice skating once the ice is in!!

I’d also like to thank the wonderful people I work with when I volunteer, because they really make it a fantastic experience and something that I am happy and proud to keep being involved with!  Thanks Bette, Jimmy, Brian, Harbs, Ken, Lorraine, Annette, Jason, Melissa and all the rest that work with the 2010 Commerce Centre and 2010 Winter Games Secretariat!

I’d like to finish up with this photo, ’cause this guy really wanted his picture taken with the Mascots, but I’m not sure that anyone had a camera, so I took a picture for him.  Do you know who he is??  Let me know by commenting or emailing me at 2010vanfan@gmail.com!

Cute photo! The Mascots with a UBCM attendee, not sure who this is though...?

And here’s hoping that I will manage to get my photo taken with the Mascots sometime!!  I’m sure I will, but gosh it will be exciting and I really hope it’s soon!!!