Carrying the torch

The women were nominated byothers to carry the torch because they are inspiringeveryday heroes.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR NEW CASTLE BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Linda Hartman and Peggy Plonka don't know each other, but they will soon share an experience that few people will have.
The two Lawrence County women will run with the Olympic torch on Wednesday when it makes its way through Pittsburgh on its cross-country trek to the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.
Anthony Reed of Wellsville, Ohio, will also carry the torch through Pittsburgh; several other Mahoning Valley residents have been chosen to carry the torch when it arrives in the Akron area in early January.
"I was just so honored that I couldn't believe it. I felt that there were a lot of inspirational people out there," said Hartman, 55, of Neshannock Township.
Everyday heroes: Those carrying the torch cross country were nominated by others as inspiring everyday heroes. Coca-Cola, a sponsor of the torch's journey, helped choose runners by collecting testimonials. They then picked 11,500 torchbearers and 4,300 support runners.
Hartman, mother of two children and grandmother of six, will walk with the torch for 0.2 miles on Shady Avenue at 4:40 p.m.
Friends and Princess House, a direct-sales company where she is a unit supervisor and sales consultant, nominated her as a role model for others.
"She is one of the top personal recruiters in the northeast for Princess House," said company spokeswoman Amy Beaudoin. "If she recruits someone, she helps them every step of the way. She really embodies the values of hard work and dedication to helping people."
Hartman said she never expected the honor, being only one of five Princess House consultants chosen nationwide as a torchbearer. Beaudoin said the company nominated about 15,000 of its consultants for the honor.
Plonka, 56, of Union Township didn't have a large company such as Princess House to back her nomination for the torch relay, but she did have many dedicated friends in the New Castle area.
Support runner: She will be with the Olympic torch as a support runner.
"I may be pushing a person in a wheelchair or guiding someone who is blind [as a support runner]. I am a service person. I feel my mission in life is love, service to God and serving humankind. To be this [support runner] is the greatest opportunity I can have because I can be helping," said Plonka, who is director of the St. Francis Hospital Foundation in New Castle, the charitable fund-raising arm of the facility.
Plonka will be running at 5:23 p.m. on Cedar Avenue from Avery to Suisman streets, near Allegheny General Hospital.
An avid runner and founder of the Second Wind Running Club in New Castle, Plonka had to mostly give up the sport when she learned in 1996 that she had multiple sclerosis.
"I do run a little bit. I just can't run as far or as fast as I used to. With MS you have your ups and your downs. There are times when I can't move and other times when I can jog along," she said.
Plonka said she often dreamt of Olympic competition when she was making her way through the Boston Marathon and other large running events, but never thought -- especially since her illness -- that she would be part of the Olympics.
'An honor': "It's an honor to be able to do this. I don't think I've done anything great or inspiring. But if there is one individual that I've touched in some way that feels better about themselves because of knowing me, I think it's wonderful and that is a true gift from God," she said.
Friend Nancy Flannery of New Castle was among those who nominated Plonka.
"She is suffering from this disability, but you would never know it to talk to her because she is upbeat and so outgoing. She is just a kind and loving person," Flannery said.
Flannery also cites Plonka's dedication to her family. Plonka is the mother of three children. She and her husband, Lee, recently agreed to take guardianship of their two granddaughters, ages 10 and 6.
"She is such and angel here on earth that she should be the guardian of the eternal flame. She is just a wonderful human being," Flannery said.