OLYMPICS BOUND: AREA RESIDENTS HEAD TO THE CENTENNIAL GAMES

When the 1996 Olympic Games begin Friday in Atlanta, some area residents will be there to watch the historic events.

Thousands of people from all across the world are expected to attend the Centennial Games, and more than 3 billion worldwide will view it on television.

Alan Branson of Cape Girardeau and his parents, Glenn and Anna Branson of Farmington, will be among those in the crowd at the Olympic Stadium.

Alan planned the four-day trip as his Mother's and Father's Days' gifts to his parents.

"I didn't want the traditional gift," he said, adding that at first he did not think tickets were available.

But he managed to buy tickets to track and field, weight lifting, baseball and basketball events. Tickets for the women's gymnastic events are the most costly.

"My parents are really sports-oriented," he said. "I thought it would be a cool thing to do."

Probably the highlight of the trip will be watching the American Dream Team face China in a basketball game, he said.

"It will be like going to the NBA All-Stars," Branson said, adding that his father has never been to a professional basketball game.

Stan and Shirley Essner and their four children will also get to see a basketball game during their visit to the Olympics during the last week of July. Stan and Shirley carried the Olympic flame through Cape Girardeau on Memorial Day.

"It's purely a pleasure trip," Stan Essner said. "It's the excitement of being there."

But watching sporting events won't top the Olympics agenda for some visitors.

Rex Adams, Aaron Davis, Bobby McCaig and Mike Busby, all of Cape Girardeau, will minister to visitors from around the world during the Olympics as part of a national youth evangelism team sponsored by the Assemblies of God churches.

The weeklong trip is part of an outreach project through the national office of Assemblies of God churches, said Mike Lovig, youth pastor at First Assembly of God Church in Cape Girardeau.

More than 125,000 visitors a day are expected at the University of Georgia campus in Athens where the group will be working. The campus is host to the synchronized swimming and soccer events, and some of the Olympic basketball teams also will practice there.

During the day, the students will pass out cold water, religious tracts, perform street dramas, and skits and human videos or mime routines set to music. In the evening, they will help with a tent revival crusade, which will have services in both English and Spanish.

"They are expecting quite a response from the Spanish-speaking community at the Olympics," Lovig said. "But we're trying to keep it fairly simple because of all the different nationalities."

The youth group will work closely with a local church in Athens, Ga., but will be staying at Toccoa Falls College in Toccoa, Ga., which is about an hour's drive to the north.

Members of First Assembly of God Church in Cape Girardeau learned about the Olympic missions project last fall but weren't accepted as part of the team until March. The entire team will consist of about 250 youth from Texas to New Jersey.

"We've started some basic training, like cultural aspects, so they are ready for that experience," Lovig said, adding that many of the youth have not been on mission trips or even outside the country before. "We want to give them the experience."

Rex Adams, 18, knew that serving on an Olympics mission team would be good experience, especially because he thinks it will lead to a missions-related career. "It will be good practice before I go to college," he said.

Although Adams has never been outside the United States, he's excited about meeting people of different nationalities. "I'm not really scared; it's more like nervous and excited."

Aaron Davis, 15, and Bobby McCaig, 18, are a little overwhelmed by the aspect of seeing thousands of people daily. McCaig is still a bit nervous about street dramas and skits, but feels more at ease after acting at Riverfest.

"I try not to think too much about it," Davis said. "It will be good experience to minister to that many people at the Olympics. To a certain extent, it will be hard to get up and do the dramas, but eventually all the nervousness goes away."

Kathy Blevins of Chaffee won't have time for being nervous when she works at an athlete village in Stone Mountain, Ga. Blevins, a registered nurse, is working at the village as a member of the Baptist Nursing Fellowship.

DID YOU KNOW?

-- A record number of women will compete in the 1996 games. More than 3,770 women will compete in Atlanta which is more 32 more women than in any other previous games.

-- There are more than 11 million tickets to the 1996 Olympic Games which is more than the total number of tickets for the 1984 Los Angeles and 1992 Barcelona games combined.

-- One new sport -- softball -- and two new disciplines -- beach volleyball and cycling-mountain bike -- are on the 1996 Olympic Games program.

-- The 1996 Games will be the first time the Olympic canoe/kayak-slalom will take place on a natural river, the Ocoee River in Tennessee. Previous competitions were held in man-made facilities.

-- The main Olympic village at the Georgia Tech campus will house most athletes. Seven satellite villages will exist for athletes, coaches and officials for yachting, canoe/kayak-slalom, softball and soccer.

-- The Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games (ACOG) is a privately-funded, non-profit organization and expects to achieve the $1.58 billion needed to stage the 1996 games. ACOG receives no direct government funding.

-- Officially licensed products of the 1996 Olympic Games are expected to generate retail sales of $2 billion.

-- For the first time since 1980, no demonstration sports will be held during the Centennial Olympic Games.

-- The Centennial Olympic Games Youth Camp will be the largest in Olympic history.

-- For the first time, legislation has been passed to prohibit price gouging by hotels during the Olympic Games. Violators will encounter fines of up to $1,000 per room per night.

-- 1996 marks the first time in the U.S. Olympic history that the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games will be held in conjunction.

-- The 1996 Olympic Games are the first to be held in the Southeastern United States.

-- Atlanta is the first city to have won the honor of hosting the Olympic Games on its first bid.