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Show ' Page 6A South Edition ' , ;i Lakeside Review Wednesday July 4, 1984 KRISTY DUNCAN, 4, waves her flag and shows the pride of the commu- nity as Todd passes by. The Olympic Flame Todd: A Hometown CHERYL ARCHIBALD Review Staff CENTERVILLE As local townspeople took time off from their normal routines to gather along Centervilles Main Street, Legacy Todd Randall, hometown hero of the' day smiled, joked and fielded reporters questions like a pro. He stood out in his white running shorts and shirt with his youthful, good looks. Photographers clicked their cameras as he hugged old friends and posed with children. They told me Id be shot to death," he joked about the shutters snapping around him. Randall earned the privilege of carrying the Olympic torch through his hometown by raising $3,000. From September to April he saved and worked to get the money from sponsors. The last $900 he borrowed from a bank. Last Thursday he was one of 600 Youth Legacy Kilometer (YLK) torch bearers who donated money to local civic groups in exchange for the privilege of of a mile. He running was one of 4,000 runners who six-tent- volunteered to carry the torch from New York to Los Angeles. Soon a crowd of thousands were along the street waiting for the torch to arrive. Randall took his position at the transfer point, just a block from his fathers service station. Olympic music signaled the approaching of the torch and the AT&T caravan. But the blasting music was soon muffled by ' cheers and applause. Randall lit the torch-h- is to entered keep for posterity-a- nd the stretch. Behind him, a tide of humanity flowed through the street, washing against their hearts quickening in the hot sun. Its been like one long parade from one end of the country to the other," said New Yorker Bill Morrison, who had traveled the distance from New York with the AT&T caravan. - rs, runs with a companion, John Crowe of Lakewood, Colorado, through Main Street. RANDALL Photos by Robert Regan the hearts of his townsfolk as well as the Olympic torch when he earned the the right to run the flame through Centerville. TODD RANDALL lifted Its bringing something out in people thats been inside,' but resting. The flame is igniting, stirring up a pride that just needed a reason to be expressed. This is something Ill never forget, he said. This is the biggy for us, Mr. Flanders said. If the timing is right, they may see it pass by again when the Flanders go to Seattle to visit a brother. Runners average 125 miles a day, sometimes running until 3 a.m. When President Reagan' The flame has collected followfolsays, Let the games begin, on ers too. Weve had people low us. Theyre almost like torch July 28, the torch must be there. Some runners could only come groupies, Morrison said. up with $2,000, which meant Two of those torch groupies they would run some place other are Allen and Maiza Flanders, .than their hometown. Randall Centerville. They watched the wanted the privilege of running torch change hands in Birmingthrough Centerville and had to ham, Alabama and got autocome up with the other thougraphs from runners there and sand to do so. in Ramona, Oklahoma. He attracted the attention of Now they would see it go Los Angeles Times special news down their own Main Street. reporter Patt Morrison, who . chose to cover Centerville of all cities on the Olympic torch route. As she put it, Todd has the Olympic Spirit. Ms. Morrison had gathered a long list of runners from across the country. Many on the list were doctors and others who could put up large blocks of money. But Randall had worked hard to come up with the needed amount. Everyones got a favorite story about a favorite place, she said. She was looking for such a story. Randall, and the small town of Centerville, Utah are one of those stories. (r J & v Photo by Rodney Wright Todds Father, proudly posts on his service station. the running time RONALD RANDALL, I, CENTERVILLE residents crowd the street as Todd Randall leads a h LJ line of police cars and flame groupies. h |