Local Winter Olympian Gets Surprise From Home

When Remsen, NY native Erin Hamlin woke up the other morning to continue training in the French Alps for the upcoming Winter Olympics, she got a video surprise from her hometown.  http://vimeo.com/84920956  Remsen is a small community in the Utica area.

Community members had planned to get together outside on the school grounds to film a video telling Erin how proud they are of her and show their school spirit.  However, Mother Nature threw a curve ball with temperatures below zero on the day the shoot. That didn't dampen the spirits, however and production continued indoors at the school using mostly the students and faculty.

This is Erin's third time competing for the US Women's Olympic Luge team and most likely her last .  Erin has been competing since 2005 .  She won the gold medal in the women't singles event at the 2009 FIL World Luge Championships in Lake Placid.  She finished 12th in the women's singles event at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin and 16th in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, which was the highest placed American in the event..

Erin's Aunt Carol and I have been friends for a long time so I have been cheering this young lady on for quite some time.  I will be watching nervously as I always do.  Yes, just a little nervous about their safety, but always MORE nervous about their safety on the track. They have hardly anything between them and the ice they are sliding down at speeds over 80 miles an hour!

Go Erin!  Slide strong, slide fast, and bring home the Gold! GO USA!!