PARK CITY, Utah — As executive director of the Olympic Torch Relay from February of 2000 until June of 2001, Glenn T. Potter volunteered his time to organizing a memorable event. He enjoyed a brief reward for his labors on Jan. 21, when he was able to carry the torch on one of its legs through Reno, Nev.
He was traveling with the torch relay that week representing the Salt Lake Organizing Committee. He said that when an unexpected opening came up, he had the chance to don an official uniform and run with the torch for a tenth of a mile.
"I really didn't know the emotion that this torch relay packs," he said. He found out when he heard the story of the teenage girl who handed him the torch. She was a heart-transplant recipient and her twin sister, who was with her at the relay, was anticipating having heart-transplant surgery herself at any time.
After his stretch on foot, he rode the official relay train through Nevada to Oregon and on to Seattle, Wash. He gave speeches to crowds in cities along the way, thanking them for hosting the torch.
Generally, the people who thronged to the relay route were enthusiastic, he said, remembering some who would shout, "Take me to Salt Lake City!"
Brother Potter, who has served as a mission president in Toronto and as a counselor in the Washington D.C. Temple presidency, said Salt Lake Organizing Committee President Mitt Romney asked him to direct the beginning stages of the relay planning. A native of the nation's capital who retired to Park City, Brother Potter was able to draw on his years of experience as the head of First Media Corporation — operator of radio and television stations — to spearhead the 13,500-mile relay. Much of his efforts were put into consulting and negotiating with corporations about sponsorship issues.
Finally, the process reached the point at which it was turned over to a business specializing in such event planning and Brother Potter returned to retirement, which includes service as a sealer in the Salt Lake Temple. He teaches the gospel essentials class in the Kimball Ward, Park City Utah Stake.