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Libertyville family creates Olympic-sized memories
Charles Hetzel (right) of Libertyville talks about his family's recent trip to the Olympics in London and some of the souvenirs they picked up with his wife Sarah, daughter Cecily, 10, and son Wills, 12, at their home. They attended eight days of Olympic events while visiting Europe. | Ryan Pagelow~Sun-Times Media
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Updated: October 22, 2012 1:54AM
LIBERTYVILLE
After spending eight days at the Olympic games in London, Charles Hetzel and his family have thousands of photographs, dozens of Olympic souvenirs and a lifetime of memories.
The Hetzels of Libertyville, including Charles, his wife, Sarah, and their two children, Wills, 12, and Cecily, 10, attended the Olympic games from July 31-Aug. 7 as part of a two-week vacation to Great Britain and France.
“As a family, I think it’s something we’ll remember for the rest of our lives,” Charles Hetzel said.
The Hetzels had tickets for eight days of the games and got to see a range of different athletic competitions, including track and field, cross country, beach volleyball, tennis and swimming.
There were plenty of poignant moments. For Wills Hetzel, the most memorable one was sitting in the third row watching Jamaican track star Usain Bolt win the Gold Medal in the 100-meter race.
“We were in the third row and after the race I went down by the Jamaican team and patted him (Bolt) on the back,” he said. “It was pretty cool.”
Cecily Hetzel said her favorite sport to watch was beach volleyball, which the family saw the first day of the Olympics.
“I thought it was really fun because it was in a stadium but there was sand so it kind of felt like you were at the beach,” she said. “The fans just got really excited and into it.”
Sarah Hetzel is a tennis player and she particularly enjoyed the tennis matches, including the women’s doubles finals win by U.S. tennis duo Serena and Venus Williams and the men’s single Gold Medal win by Britain’s Andy Murray.
“It was nice to be able to watch it at Wimbledon,” she said. “To be able watch Olympic tennis at Wimbledon was unbelievable.”
During their trip, the Hetzels took thousands of photographs which they posted on their family blog. The Hetzels also kept all of their tickets and have Olympic hats and an Olympic flag.
