Salt Lake City residents Mona Dean, '70, and David Fleisher were concerned at first, but ended up proud of their city.

By Mona Dean, '70

David Fleischer and Mona Dean

My husband Dave and I were like many locals, dreading the influx of thousands of people because our public transportation system isn't as good as many cities'. And the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VA), where I work, is situated right across the street from the University of Utah; the athletes' village was housed there, and the opening and closing ceremonies were staged at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Needless to say, I was not only worried about commuting, but was also very concerned about public safety due to the Sept. 11 tragedy.

Our VA campus housed the Secret Service contingency, and served as a major security hub for multiple law enforcement agencies. Security was very tight on campus, which made us feel safer; however, a big concern was the possibility of bioterrorism. VA employees had been urged to have available enough clothing, food, and personal care items to last 2-3 days, just in case our campus was quarantined and we were forced to remain on the grounds.

As the Olympics progressed, our anxiety gave way to enjoyment as Salt Lake City truly welcomed the world. We were happy to see our city so beautifully showcased on national TV for two weeks. We enjoyed going downtown and hearing the many languages spoken; we really enjoyed the festival atmosphere that seemed to continue non-stop. I wish I had photographs, but we didn't carry cameras with us; we knew there would be searches of everything, and we wanted our hands free to buy souvenirs!

Although we didn't rub elbows with any celebrities, and there were MANY here, we did spot Juan Antonio Samaranch (former president of the International Olympic Committee) from a distance as we traveled by light rail past his hotel and saw him standing curbside. It was very exciting for me just to know that Archbishop Desmond Tutu was in town, and we were honored to attend the Discover Navajo exhibit and meet one of the WWII U.S. Marine Corps Navajo code talkers.

People watching the closing ceremony of the Olympics on TV didn't realize that there was a huge fireworks display that NBC chose not to televise. Not only were there fireworks set off throughout the Salt Lake valley. This truly helped make it a community wide celebration.