Olympic Torch Gala Ticket Sales Aren’t Setting Any Records

Local officials had envisioned a sellout crowd of 2,000 for an invitation-only gala to celebrate the Olympic torch’s arrival at the pier April 28.

But the response was nowhere near their Olympic-sized expectations: By April 1, only 20 tickets had sold for the bash in the Huntington Beach Mall’s Center Court, featuring a symphony orchestra, a fancy dinner and 100 former Olympians, including gold medalist Sammy Lee (swimming), Bill Craig (swimming) and Rex Cawley (track).

Now the Orange County Torchbearers’ Gala Celebration Committee has opened the party to the public, hoping to sell at least 400 tickets by April 19 to keep the event alive. Originally, organizers had not intended a public sale, except for a few lucky people who would win the opportunity to buy a $40 ticket via a lottery. (Proceeds go to the Koroibos Foundation, an organization that supports future Olympians.)

“I’m delighted to say to the public, ‘Here’s your chance,’ ” said Carolyn H. Hunt, an organizer and director of the United Way of Orange County. “We just absolutely misjudged” sales.

The gala is scheduled from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. April 27, the day before the torch makes its only Orange County stop, in Huntington Beach. Orange County’s 16 “community heroes” will take the Olympic flame from Los Angeles runners about 3:15 a.m. in Seal Beach and head toward the pier for a rest stop from 5 to 6 a.m. Huntington Beach will be the flame’s first official stop on its cross-country journey.

The torch relay will cover 15,000 miles, starting in Los Angeles on April 27 and ending in Atlanta on July 19. For 84 days, 10,000 torchbearers will carry the flame by foot, canoe, horseback, seaplane and other modes.

Cities across the country are planning celebrations to welcome the 3 1/2-pound torch, made of Georgia pecan wood. Kingman, Ariz., will throw a ‘50s-era midnight pajama party, and New Orleans will organize a Mardi Gras-style parade. Olympic officials anticipate huge crowds for the torch relay. Last September, for a dress rehearsal of the relay, crowds lined the streets of western North Carolina to watch runners carrying a lead pipe, a newspaper reported.

Orange County’s gala committee started planning the Huntington Beach party in January. Committee members, who expected a big demand, decided to sell tickets through the county’s 31 mayors, Hunt said.

In a Feb. 20 letter, committee members asked the mayors to sell 50 tickets each.

“No one knows a city and its citizens like their mayor, so we are asking that you choose your city’s representatives,” the letter said.

By the April 1 deadline, only the mayors of Huntington Beach, Orange and Santa Ana had responded, with a total of 20 sales. Since then, committee members have sold another 130 tickets, which are now available through the Huntington Beach Conference and Visitors Bureau.

Hunt said she was surprised at the dismal response.

“We figured that they would all jump at the opportunity” to sell tickets, she said. “This is a chance in a lifetime. We wanted to make it a countywide event.”

But former Huntington Beach Mayor Norma Brandel Gibbs, co-chair of the gala, said that she could not fault the mayors.

“I have a feeling that mayors are up to here,” she said, gesturing atop her head. “There’s so much going on, and so many dinners going on.”