| The Manville News Torch song
Manville's Bob Kita
carries Olympic symbol in Princeton
By Alec Moore
Staff Writer
Manville resident Bob Kita may never have
envisioned himself in an Olympic event, but on
Sunday that is exactly what the 38-year-old
husband and father found himself doing.
It's certainly the experience of a lifetime,"
said Mr. Kita of his participation in the Olympic
torch relay through Princeton.
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| The 38-year-old husband and
father said he was shocked when he and his family
returned home from vacation in August to discover
a letter from Chevrolet, corporate sponsor of the
torch run along with the Coca-Cola Co.,
announcing that he had been chosen as an official
torch bearer for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt
Lake City, Utah. |
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"I'm honored and humbled," Mr. Kita
said last week before his two-tenths-of-a-mile
run with the torch in Princeton. "Running
with the torch is symbolic of everything that the
Olympics represents, and that, and my children,
are what will be inspiring me on Sunday." Mr.
Kita came to be one of the 11,500 Americans who
will carry the torch through 46 states on its way
from Atlanta to Salt Lake City as a result of a
nomination letter submitted to event sponsors by
Pat Sokol, a Flemington resident who attends Ss.
Peter and Paul Orthodox Church in Manville with
Mr. Kita.
Ms. Sokol said the moment she heard that
Chevrolet was accepting nominations for torch-bearer
candidates, there was no doubt in her mind whom
she wanted to nominate.
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| "The moment I heard they
were looking for torch bearers, Rob Kita's name
instantly came to mind," she said. Mr.
Kita's donation of his bone marrow last year was
the primary factor that prompter her to write the
letter, she noted, but added that Mr. Kita is a
selfless individual who has done a tremendous
amount of work for the church and community.
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| "Putting yourself at risk for a complete
stranger is a heroic deed in itself and the
things everyone says 'somebody ought to do
something about that,' Rob Kita is the guy who
actually does it, he doesn't just talk about
doing things." Ms. Sokol's letter must
have impressed Chevrolet's selection committee
significantly because Mr. Kita was selected to be
one of the torch runners out of more than 210,000
nomination letters submitted.
"I'm honored to even be considered among
this group of people," said Mr. Kita, who
noted that the greatest high point of the torch
run for him would be the opportunity to run side-by-side
with Alex Bespechny, the man who had received his
bone marrow last year.
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| "Here's a person who was
near death last year but he fought his way back;
he's a real inspiration to me," Mr. Kita
said of the 31-year-old Mr. Bespechny, who served
as Mr. Kita's support runner. "It's an honor
in itself, just to have someone like Alex as a
part of this and it's really like the icing on
the cake of our relationship," he added.
"This experience is my Christmas gift." Following
the torch run, Mr. Kita and Mr. Bespechny
attended a bone marrow screening and blood
donation drive at the Manville VFW Lodge
sponsored by M.I.K.E.S (Manville's Involved
Keeping Everyone Secure) for Manville, a group
that provides assistance to people who face
illness and are under severe financial constrants.
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