One year ago today, Prince George grew up.
The city finally shed for good its long held self-image as a rough-and-tumble northern town populated by uneducated hillbillies who neither knew nor cared of the outside world.
It was burned away by the flame lit to open the 2015 Canada Winter Games.
The opening ceremonies served notice, to the entire nation and to local residents, that Prince George was a sophisticated, modern city, with a vibrant culture, passionate citizens and the amenities and engagement to host athletes from across Canada in style.
After the city's two-week coming out party, Prince George returned to normal, except it wasn't the normal from before. There was a confidence in the air. Prince George had not only beat Kamloops and Kelowna for the right to host the Games, Prince George had rocked the games, fuelled by an army of volunteers in green jackets and a city declaring it was no longer a second-class substitute to those two southern cousins.
The problem with a new normal is how quickly we forget what it was like before. By last fall, there was already murmuring about where was this legacy from the Games for Prince George. The Games legacy surrounds the city so completely that it's easy to miss without taking a step back. The large and small additions to Prince George include:
A new alpine skiing run at Purden.
A new ski-cross and snowboard-cross course at Tabor, that has already hosted Nor-Am races, one level below World Cup.
An upgraded cross-country and biathlon facility at Otway capable of hosting international level competition.
A new slope style course and big-air ramp at Tabor for freestyle skiing and snowboarding.
A beautiful renovation of Kin 1, that celebrates Prince George's past and present history with wood while offering an ice surface that can be adjusted in size to host top-level competitions in everything from short-track speed skating and sledge hockey to figure skating and hockey. That also came with an up-to-date safety mat system and a state-of-the-art timing system for short-track speed skating.
New competition-grade mats for the judo club, competition-grade trampolines for the gymnastics club, competition-grade badminton courts, an underwater sound system for a synchronized swimming club formed after the games and LED lighting for the curling club, aquatic centre and the coliseum.
It was a coming-out party for local athletes like Evan Bichon, Canada Games gold medallist in snowboard cross, now in Norway competing for Canada at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympic Games. It was an introduction to 10-year-old Stephen Gogolev of Ontario, the youngest athlete in the 2015 Canada Games. Coached by former Olympic silver medallist Brian Orser, Gogolev took gold in men's pre-novice and is shaping up to be this country's next Patrick Chan.
There were also the partnerships forged between groups and businesses, all working together towards a joint goal. Those special bonds and sense of purpose didn't disappear after the Games ended and the athletes left town. Instead, they opened the city's eyes to a new normal, new possibilities for success and a new confidence to pursue those possibilities.
Historians will look back on Feb. 13, 2015, as the day Prince George evolved, where it shed its skin without forgetting its roots, becoming greater than its individual parts. By putting the nation's top young athletes in the spotlight, we raised ourselves up with them.
We continue to marvel at the magnificence of what we see reflected back at us.
