Prince George, B.C. – Mayor Shari Green and City Manager Beth James, will be heading to Sherbrooke Quebec for the Canada Summer Games.  

The two will be  in Sherbrooke in time for the closing ceremonies, when the Canada Games torch will be "handed off" to  the City of Prince George as the next host city.  The torch will be  handed to a B.C. athlete who will carry it out of the stadium.

The Sherbrooke Games will officially open  at 7 this evening (Sherbrooke time) with the Games flag being carried in to the University of Sherbrooke Stadium by a variety of people, including the Mayor of Lac-Megantic, the community that has been rocked by the tragic loss of life   as a result of the recent train derailment, explosion and fire. 

Flag bearers will cross more than political lines, as cultural , economic, and former Games’ Athletes will all take part in the honours. 

The Mayor and City Manager are not the only  folks from Prince George heading to  Sherbrooke.  A  P.G. delegation made up  of many of the 2015 Canada Winter Games staff will be in Sherbrooke for most of the Summer Games . CEO Stuart Ballentyne is already there, as is required under the  Games agreement. 

The 2015 Winter Games  team has set up an office  in Sherbrooke as  other members of the  P.G. team will be arriving  on the 10th.  "That will be transition day, when  the first group  of athletes heads home and the next group arrives" says 2015  Games  spokesperson Mike Davis.  "We will have people at the Montreal  airport to see how they handle that transition."

Although the Summer and Winter Games offer different sports, it will be the logistics of hosting that will be the focus for the Winter Games team. 

Then the P.G. crew will settle in  for some long days  in sessions  with the Canada Games’ Transfer of Knowledge (TOK) program. "We will be looking at everything from  transportation, to security, languages, finances,  and share ideas on what has worked and  what didn’t" says Davis. "We have 40 functional areas to   go over, the sessions will start at 7 a.m. and will go through to  5 or 6 because we have a lot of ground to cover."

The P.G.  team will be bringing some  promotional materials  with them, including some new  pins athletes can trade with  each other. 

There are three  different  pin designs ( in photo at right, courtesy 2015 Canada Winter Games) each one featuring a different  Winter Games scene.