Torch pass lights new year

In South Brunswick, the Olympic torch was carried down Route 27 on Sunday.

Mayor Debra Johnson called the flame "a beacon of peace and hope in these troubled times."

The township was just one of three municipalities in the state to have the torch pass through it on foot. The torch is an important symbol of sportsmanship and unity throughout the world.

That single flame will travel 13,000 miles and be carried by more than 11,000 individuals as it makes its way to Salt Lake City for the start of the 2002 Winter Olympics.

Residents of the state were selected to help carry the flame during the relay. They were selected based on applications submitted by friends and relatives which included an essay on why they should be given the honor.

That process was taking place during the course of this year, long before the events of Sept. 11.

The selection process shows that there were Americans who cared and helped their communities overcome adversity before those attacks made it popular to be patriotic and human.

The flame should help remind us that helping in our communities, and showing kindness to our neighbors, is something that should always be burning and not just a light to turn on when the darkness comes.

The torch relay has taken place since the beginning of the Games, thousands of years ago.

That flame has been carried, driven, flown, and even taken under water by all different methods to reach its goal city.

It has never failed in that quest. Hopefully, neither will we.