USallie Reavey wathatha ifowuni kwiBriar Rose Inn yakhe enomtsalane kwaye umntu owayefowunela wabuza ngamagumbi phakathi kuFebruwari. “Sinamagumbi amahle esiwakhethileyo ngezo ntsuku,” waphendula watsho, waza lowo wayefowunela wathi: “Usenawo amagumbi ngexesha leeOlimpiki?”
UReavey kwafuneka amxelele: iVancouver engalunganga.
IBriar Rose iseVancouver, eWashington, hayi eVancouver, eBritish Columbia, isixeko saseKhanada esiya kubamba iiOlimpiki zaseBusika zika-2010 eziqala nge-12 kaFebruwari.
“IVancouver yaseMelika”, njengosodolophu wangaphambili ethanda ukuyichaza, ihleli kumgama oziikhilomitha ezingama-400 kumazantsi omkhosi we-Olimpiki iVancouver kwaye inabemi abamalunga ne-165,000 yabantu - ngaphantsi kakhulu kwesixeko saseCanada.
I-Hilton Vancouver Washington iphinde yafaka imibuzo kwi-Olimpiki kwaye yaqeqesha abasebenzi bayo ababhukishayo ukuba babe novelwano kwimpazamo enokwenzeka kwaye, ngokwendalo, bayijike ibe lithuba lokuthengisa.
“Sifuna ukuba beze apha,” utshilo uGerry Link, umphathi jikelele wale hotele, esongeza ngokuxubana kweVancouver: “Ukuza kuthi ga ngoku zonke bezinobuntu obuhle.”
Ukunqanda naziphi na iingxaki, i-Hilton iphinda ijonge indawo yayo yaphakathi kuFebruwari kwaye ibize abantu aboyikayo ukuba babhukishe amagumbi kwilizwe elingalunganga.
“Asifuni mntu uphoxekayo. Sifuna ukuba i-Olimpiki ibe ngamava alungileyo kuye wonke umntu,” utshilo u-Link.
IVancouver, eWashington, isetyenziselwa ukudlala ifiddle yesibini. Kudala igutyungelwe ngummelwane wayo omkhulu iPortland ehleli ngaphaya koMlambo i-Columbia e-Oregon.
Ukubhideka nesixeko saseKhanada kwenzeka nangaphambi kwe-Olimpiki, kodwa usodolophu omtsha wase-American Vancouver ucinga ukuba iMidlalo ibonelela uluntu lwakhe ngokuvulwa.
“Sicinga ukuba eli lithuba lembasa yegolide yokuba iVancouver yethu igqame… Isinika ithuba lokuzixelela ukuba singoobani kwaye yintoni ekufuneka siyinike,” utshilo uTim Leavitt.
Zombini iiVancouvers zinokulanda amagama azo kuMphathi uGeorge Vancouver, owaphonononga unxweme lwePasifiki kuMkhosi waManzi waseBritane ngeminyaka yoo-1790.
I-Vancouver yaseMelika yaqala njengekomkhulu lasentshona leNkampani ye-Hudson's Bay - i-icon yaseKhanada kunye nomxhasi we-Olimpiki ye-2010 - kwaye yayinesithuba somkhosi esikhulayo, i-Fort Vancouver - ngoku enye yezona ndawo zinomdla kakhulu kubakhenkethi.
“Ukuba abantu bayabhideka, kusinika ithuba lokuthetha ngeVancouver yokuqala,” utshilo uJennifer Kirby weSouthwest Washington Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Isixeko sabandakanywa ngo-1857, ngaphambi kweJohnny-Come-Kutsha nje eCanada ngo-1886.
Ukubhideka kweVancouver kuye kwasusa umbono weminyaka engamashumi eminyaka wokutshintsha igama lesixeko saseMelika sibe yiFort Vancouver.
Uninzi lwabantu, kubandakanya noSodolophu uLeavitt, bacinga ukuba igama lokutshintsha igama alinayo intshukumo yokwenyani. Abemi bavotele phantsi ukutshintshwa kwegama izihlandlo ezithathu, kodwa abanye bacinga ukuba ngoku lixesha.
“Ndicinga ukuba iya kuba licebo elihle,” utshilo uReavey. "Ngokuqinisekileyo kuya kunciphisa ukudideka."
INTO ONOKUYITHATHA KWELI NQAKU:
- I-Hilton Vancouver Washington iphinde yafaka imibuzo kwi-Olimpiki kwaye yaqeqesha abasebenzi bayo ababhukishayo ukuba babe novelwano kwimpazamo enokwenzeka kwaye, ngokwendalo, bayijike ibe lithuba lokuthengisa.
- “America’s Vancouver”, as a former town mayor liked to describe it, sits 400 kms south of the Olympic host Vancouver and has a population of some 165,000 people —.
- Ukubhideka kweVancouver kuye kwasusa umbono weminyaka engamashumi eminyaka wokutshintsha igama lesixeko saseMelika sibe yiFort Vancouver.
