where the visual meets communication

A few days have passed since the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games came to an end.

Vancouver’s Closing Ceremony aired at 5:30 p.m. PST (8:30 p.m. here in Ontario) and was a dynamic show from the moment that mime stepped onto the stage to raise the previously-defunct fourth arm of the Olympic torch.

The show that followed included elaborate dance routines, the honouring of world class athletes and references to Canadiana galore. Seeing Joannie Rochette carry our flag was spectacular. She is a true hero.

The “Greetings from Sochi” portion of the evening (Sochi, Russia being the location of the 2014 Winter Olympics), was very interesting to say the least. Ballerinas on snowboards, giant zorbs and neon horses were just some of the images filling the screen. I’m really looking forward to seeing more!

Music was also a big aspect of the ceremony.

Unfortunately, if you were to ask viewers what their opinions were in regards to the music as a whole, their response might not be positive. The Canadian anthem was criticized by some as being butchered, and then there was the large selection of not-so-wonderful Canadian music (*Cough* Nickelback, Avril Lavigne, Simple Plan and Hedley).

But please! Before you push the musical component of the ceremony completely aside, I ask that you remember one act: Neil Young.

Young was born in Toronto in 1945, and aside from being one of the most well-known Canadian artists in history, he is also one of the most successful. In the past, he was a member of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and Buffalo Springfield. As a solo artist, he has received critical acclaim and has been inducted into both the Canadian Music Hall of Fame (1982) and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice (1995 and 1997, respectively).

In the Closing Ceremony, Young had the honour of singing a song directly following the official closing of the Games. He chose to sing his 1976 tune Long May You Run, and as soon as I heard the opening chords, I was overcome with excitement.

As you may know about me, I was raised in a small northern Ontario town called Blind River (population: 3,600). Needless to say, we don’t get a lot of publicity back home. But if we have any claim to fame at all, it’s that our town is mentioned in Long May You Run.

“Well, it was
Back in Blind River in 1963
When I last saw you alive.
But we missed that shift
On the long decline.
Long may you run.”

Here is a live version from years ago. The Blind River mention occurs around the 1:25 mark…

Within seconds of Young finishing the song, my Facebook feed went wild. Friends from home were shocked about what had just happened. I expressed my pride in a Facebook status update:

Twitter was abuzz with Closing Ceremony tweets already. But suddenly I was able to search for tweets mentioning Blind River and actually find them! I discovered other Blind Riverites through their tweeting, and they found me because of mine!

I received texts from good friends filling me in on the news just in case I wasn’t watching.

Even my boyfriend, a Hamilton native, called me in his excitement for Blind River.

To a small northern Ontario town, it truly was a big deal.

Thanks to you, Neil Young, for mentioning Blind River to a worldwide audience. I was already enjoying the Closing Ceremony, feeling patriotic and happy to see our country shine. But this made it all the more exciting for me, my friends and family and spurred a giant social media burst of hometown pride.