By Charmain Brackett
Correspondent
Article dated May 28

As the countdown to the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta winds some Augusta-area residents have their eyes set on another clock.

On July 14, the Olympic torch relay will pass through the area, and organizers are making plans for it to be special.

``This is a once-in-a-lifetime event,'' said Don Johnson, chairman of the Augusta Olympic Torch Relay Task Force. ``It's something your kids will remember, and something you will remember.''

The torch will enter the south end of Augusta from Waynesboro, Ga., around noon and head out past Harlem about 4 p.m.

Mr. Johnson said the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games wants to make sure the torch passes through all sections of the community, and it does have some zigging and zagging.

One stop he mentioned is around 1:15 p.m. when the torch is scheduled to come through downtown Augusta and pause near the Jessye Norman Amphitheatre for a 15-minute ceremony.

Even though the torch will be there for a short time, other events are planned at Riverwalk from noon until 4 p.m.

Mr. Johnson said preliminary plans include having several sports exhibitions by local gymnasts, cyclists and rowers.

``We have an awful lot of ideas we're working through,'' he said.

One area the torch will not go through is the city of Grovetown.

That city had sent a letter to ACOG requesting a route change to include it; but that request was denied because the course had already been set, according to Dori Wofford at ACOG.

A few weeks before the relay, officials from Coca-Cola, a national sponsor of the Olympics, will be out in neighborhoods and churches to let people know exactly where and about what time the torch will come by.

Wilder Ruffin, director of marketing for Augusta's local Coca-Cola Bottling Co., said he was in Salt Lake City when the torch passed through.

``Anyone who thinks Americana is dead and gone has not seen the torch relay,'' he said. ``This is the biggest parade since Grandpa came home from the war, with people waving flags and shouting, `USA, USA.'¡''

Coca-Cola held a national high school nomination promotion that added four more torchbearers from the area.

These students were nominated by administrators at their schools based on academics and leadership ability. From the nominees, the additional torchbearers were selected at random.

The other bearers are Chad Felty, Merriwether Middle School; Luke J. Murrell, Allelulia Community School; Michael Mahoney, North Augusta Middle School; and Caroline Bennett, Augusta Preparatory Day School.

Through another Coca-Cola promotion, 15 local students were selected as escort runners. These students will walk or run 5 kilometers. They, too, had to meet certain criteria including athletic ability because they will be going a farther distance than the torchbearers.

``There's a 99 percent chance that these escort runners will hold the torch at some point,'' Mr. Ruffin said.

The escorts are Eugene Jackson, Millen, Jenkins County High School; Chad Jones, Waynesboro, Edmund Burke Academy; Robin D. Carver, Jennifer G. Miller, Amy Loushine, Roger Lin and Michelle Miler, all of Lakeside High School; Michael Burbine, Jessica L. Anderson, Michael Runnels and Stacey Miller, Butler; Keithtrik C. Knighten, Davidson; Mollie McKeown, Allelulia Community School; Tania McCafferty, Augusta Christian Schools; and Antonio R. Kittles, Hephzibah High School.