Paint the Town Red for Vancouver 2010

Across the nation communities have been asked to Paint the Town Red in an effort to cheer on our Canadian athletes at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

More than 200 athletes will be representing Canada and from Newfoundland to Nanoose Bay, everyone is being asked to go Red. This includes leaving up your red Christmas lights, putting a red “Go Canada Go” flag on your car, and painting your face red when watching event. You can even go online and creating an interactive “Podium Pal” which you can deck out in red or find other activities on the campaign’s Facebook page.

Photo credit: syume on Flickr

I’ve watched the campaign grow for a while now so I thought I would make a special appeal to Vancouverites at this time and if I may, I’ll use hockey as an example.

When the Canucks are in the playoffs we can rally enough to get towel power going however we never really have a “sea of blue” like how Calgary has their “sea of red” all year long. Our stands are speckled with blue uniforms, white jerseys, retro flying V’s and although those are all cool in their own right, there’s never one single uniform colour that takes over. This will be symbolic, from sea to sea.

The Olympics will be here in a short amount of time and athletes who have been training their entire lives will get the chance to perform to the best of their ability and represent their country on the world’s stage.

Even though this is but a small individual gesture on our part, if you’d like to support the athletes, wear some red during the games. Grab a Sled Head toque, some of those red hot mittens, put red ribbons in your hair, wear an old red t-shirt or knit yourself a scarf and just be a part of the experience. Go Canada Go!