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Queen’s Baton In Belize
Tue, April 22, 2014
The Queen's Baton is in Belize tonight for the 3rd time in its history of use as official symbol for the Commonwealth Games. It arrived at the Phillip Goldson International Airport at around 1:10 p.m. yesterday, and 7News was there. Daniel Ortiz has that story:

Daniel Ortiz reporting
The Queen's Baton...it's on its 3rd trip, which will last for 288 days, where it will visit 70 Commonwealth nations, spanning over some 190,000 KM - or 118,000 miles.

Alistair Camron - Travel Manager, Queen's Baton
"The handle: elm wood from a tree that fell in the gardens of a place that's called Garrison House in old fortress on the isle of Cumbrae and the top is made out of titanium, it's all one piece, and it's made through a methodology called a laser sintering which is effectively 3D printing. In the top is a little piece of granite from Ailsa Craig just off the Scottish coast and we will gift that to the country when we leave. It's a little of Scotland that remains behind and it's the first time it's ever been done."

A first time that Belize gets to keep a piece of the Baton itself, but as was done on the last 2 times it made its way to Belize, it went on a ceremonial journey from the Airport to Belize City.

From the airport, the Belize Rural Central Area Rep, walked a 50 yard's, where she handed it over to the Ladyville Village Chairman, who then, did his trek to hand it over to the President of the Cycling Federation of Belize.

He then walked it to the Cyclists who made their way out of the airport.

Alistair Camron - Travel Manager, Queen's Baton
"The games are the second largest multisport games after the Olympics, so it's very significant sporting event on the calendar around the world. We certainly cherish the opportunity ourselves to take it from country to country. I believe anyone here who gets the opportunity to carry it should feel proud and when they see Her Majesty with that baton in her hand on July 23rd, people can look at it and say I was part of that, I've held that baton."

The cyclists took the Baton on relay from Ladyville to Belize City, where it was handed over to Mayor Darrell Bradley. He accepted the baton, where a short ceremony was done at the Memorial Park, which included plant of trees. Afterwards, Mayor Bradley donned running clothes, and took the baton on a relay through the City, where Minister of Sports Herman Longsworth also took a leg. That relay ended at the House of Culture, where another ceremony was held.

The Queen's Baton started its journey on October 9 of last year, and it will be used in the Opening Ceremony of 2014 Commonwealth Games on July 23. It will stay in Belize for 2 more days, moving to select parts of the country, and it will leave on Thursday for Bermuda.

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