North Olympic Peninsula law enforcement will run the Special Olympic Games torch from Port Angeles to Hood Canal today.
The Peninsula’s Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics will include a host of local law enforcement officers beginning with LaPush Police Chief Bill Lyon kicking off the run at 7:30 a.m. from the corner of U.S. Highway 101 and Laird Road.
Clallam County Sheriff Bill Benedict will gather a group of walkers for the torch at 8:45 a.m. at City Pier in Port Angeles. The walkers will travel on the Waterfront Trail to the Rayonier mill site at the end of Ennis Street.
Runners will arrive at Sequim Railroad Bridge Park at about 11:45 a.m., and Sequim Police Officer Mike Hill and his police dog, Chase, will run with the torch from Kendall Road on Hendrickson Road to Brown Road at 11:50 a.m.
Jefferson County Sheriff Tony Hernandez will complete the run at about 6:30 p.m., handing the torch off to a canoe of Port Gamble S’Klallam tribal members who will take it across the water.
Donations will be accepted by any of the participating officers. T-shirts, blue shirts with a Washington state map and the logo for the Torch Run, will be sold for $20 each.
Proceeds will go to the Special Olympics, an event that offers sports competition to athletes with intellectual disabilities.
The law enforcement torch run, which began in Washington state in 1982, takes the “Flame of Hope” to the opening ceremonies of the Summer Games, which is at Joint Base Lewis-McChord.
Criminal justice agencies who are participating in the torch run include the Clallam and Jefferson counties’ sheriff’s offices, the Port Angeles, Sequim and Port Townsend police departments, and the State Patrol, National Park Service, Border Patrol, Clallam Bay Corrections Center and the Coast Guard.
The torch will arrive at Joint Base Lewis-McChord gates the evening of Friday after it is picked up by Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office on the other side of Hood Canal.
Special Olympics T-shirts are available in sizes small through XXX large and can be pre-ordered by contacting Deputy Ron Cameron at the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office at 360-417-2570 or Port Angeles Police Sgt. Glen Roggenbuck at 360-417-4951.
Sequim police can be reached at 360-683-7227. Ask for Officer Maris Turner or Lt. Sheri Crain.