The Glasgow 2014 Queen’s Baton Relay will be introduced to the Virgin Islands at 9.00am on Thursday, April 3. Mr. Steve Augustine will bring in the Glasgow 2014 Queen’s Baton at a public welcome ceremony at the Noel Lloyd Positive Action Movement Park. Mr. Augustine represented the VI in athletics at the XV Commonwealth Games Victoria 1994 and at the XVII Commonwealth Games Manchester 2002.
The Queen’s Baton Relay is a symbolic event that heralds the Commonwealth Games and takes place every four years. It has been run since the 1958 games in Cardiff, Wales. The baton bears the Queen’s ‘message to the athletes’. When the baton ends its journey through the Commonwealth, it is returned to Her Majesty the Queen in the stadium. The message is removed and read aloud by HM to officially declare the Games open.
His Excellency Governor Boyd McCleary, Premier Dr. D. Orlando Smith, and Honourable Myron Walwyn, Minister for Education, Culture and Sports, will play key roles in welcoming the Glasgow 2014 Queen’s Baton Relay to the territory. The occasion will incorporate Scottish bagpipes in recognition of the host country for the XX Commonwealth Games.
The ceremony will end when the Minister hands over the baton to the first baton bearers. They will represent the three sporting associations slated to participate in the XX Commonwealth Games. The members from the squash, swimming, and athletics associations will run from the Noel Lloyd Positive Action Movement Park to the Wickham’s Cay I roundabout. This will be the first leg of the series of symbolic relays through Tortola, Jost Van Dyke, and Virgin Gorda.
The BVI Olympic Committee, in its capacity as the local Commonwealth Games Association, is the host of the Glasgow 2014 Queen’s Baton Relay and encourages the public to participate in the relays.
“The baton relay routes are not too arduous,” said Ephraim Penn, president of the BVIOC. “Each leg is quite short and we have planned for the relay of the baton to pass through main communities and areas of historic significance. It’s a symbolic relay and we really want to see as many people join in either as runners or supporters.”
On Thursday, April 3, relays will pass through Road Town from 10:00am – 11.15am and will move to the First District. The Queen’s baton relay will then start at 11.45am from Capoon’s Bay, and run through Apple Bay and Carrot Bay. It will be driven to De Wedding from where the baton relay will be run through Cane Garden Bay. The relay route will end at the beach by the Methodist Church where swimmers from the BVI Swimming Association will escort the baton out to the Police launch for transportation to Jost Van Dyke.
Following a relay through Great Harbour at 2.30pm, Queen’s baton will be transported to the BVI Spring Regatta at Nanny Cay Resort & Marina where the Tortola Sloop, Intrepid will receive the baton and conduct a sail-by in the company of Optimist sailors.
At 8.30am on Friday, April 4, the Premier will welcome the relay to Virgin Gorda at the Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbour. Relays will take place through the Valley, to the Baths and the Bregado Flax Educational Center. The baton will then return to Trellis Bay, Beef Island at 4.30pm. Relays will be cycled, run and walked through East End/Long Look to the HLSCC.
The Glasgow 2014 Queen’s Baton Relay will conclude its visit to the Virgin Islands at the HLSCC. There will be a cultural presentation featuring local and Scottish performers and a ‘Tasting under the Tent’ to showcase the cuisine of the VI and Scotland.
This is the third time that the relay will visit the VI. The first occasion was in August 2005. The VI will be the 54th country to be visited on the relay’s journey through 70 Commonwealth nations and Overseas Territories. The baton will arrive from Anguilla on April 2 and will depart for Jamaica on April 5.
The key stakeholders involved in organizing the Glasgow 2014 Queen’s Baton Relay events include the BVIOC, the Office of the Governor, the Office of the Premier, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports (to include the Departments of Culture, and Youth Affairs and Sports), the Royal Virgin Islands Police Force, the H. Lavity Stoutt Community College, and the BVI Tourist Board. The event is supported by the BVI Red Cross, Foxy’s Bar, the Jost Van Dykes Preservation Society, and Rotary Club of Tortola.
The Glasgow 2014 Queen’s Baton Relay is sponsored by the Ministry of Education, Culture, and Sports, the Ministry of Finance, CCT, BVI Bank Association, Roadtown Wholesale, San Bendetto, Powerade, and Harneys.
A detailed itinerary of the route can be found on www.bviolympics.org or can be requested from the BVIOC office. Contact Cleave Farrington on 542 1007.
