For 17 days, they worked in support roles while the world showered attention, glory and medals upon Olympic athletes. Now, it was their turn to shine.

Photo by Kevin Lee

Mitt Romney, SLOC president, interacts with admiring crowd of Olympic volunteers at party held in their honor at medals plaza.

At the same plaza where the athletes received their medals, Olympic volunteers were feted Feb. 25 — the day after the Games closed — at a party put on by the Salt Lake Organizing Committee.

It was a bittersweet occasion for "Team 2002," as the volunteers were dubbed, not just because of the post-Olympic let-down many residents were experiencing, but because it was the last time many of them would be together. Bundled in their official SLOC volunteer jackets, colored according to the tasks where each had been assigned, they gathered in clusters of friends and took snapshots of each other.

It was a chance for them to hear a heartfelt "thank you" from SLOC President Mitt Romney, who circulated among the crowd prior to the program shaking as many hands as he could.

"I've tried to see everybody [personally], but of course that's going to be tough with 24,500 people," Brother Romney said.

He told them he had the easy job but it was they who had to "go out there and take the tickets. You search the bags. You serve the meals. You get people in their seats. You drive the cars. You clean. You do all the work. You get the snow off the bleachers. You're the guys that did the fabulous work here. You're the guys that made these Games successful. There's no question in my mind that Team 2002 made the greatest Games in the history of the Winter Olympics, and you guys deserve the credit."

In conversations, some of the volunteers said they would gladly do it all over again, just for the chance to be a part of it.

For Jeannette Kucharski, a member of the Ridgecrest Ward, Layton Utah Northridge Stake, the motivation was the opportunity "to see how things work in the background and to really know you've contributed and made a difference."

A rehab nurse at LDS hospital who checked blood levels of competitors to determine compliance with anti-doping rules, she said a memorable experience was seeing the athletes of many countries join together. "They reached out to each other, cheering for each other; it didn't matter where they were from," she said.

Volunteering was a family affair for Bruce and Shawna Stone and their five children, members of the Timpanogos Park 2nd Ward, Orem Utah North Stake. He was a sports services attendant at the Salt Lake Ice Center, while she was a chaperone at Rice-Eccles Stadium, where their young ones, accomplished ice skaters, were "children of light" during the closing ceremonies, except for the 2-year-old.

"It took so long to get here," Brother Stone said. "We kind of didn't think it would ever come, but then once it started, I thought, 'It's going to end soon.' I guess I was ready for it to be over, but I would do it again in a second."

Harmonie Rice, Westwood Heights 1st Ward, Kearns Utah Stake, worked in various capacities at the Delta Center, which was transformed into the Salt Lake Ice Center for the Games. "To be in that room when they played our national anthem and those flags went up just brought tears to my eyes every single day," she said.

Fellow ward member Linda Taft said she appreciated the chance to be something of a host to all the people who came "and let them know how neat Utah is and how wonderful it was to have them here."

Indeed, in a letter read to Team 2002, International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge commended them all for being "ambassadors of your country in meeting and working with different nationalities and cultures. The athletes, officials and visitors who departed today remember more than anything else you, the volunteers."

E-mail: rscott@desnews.com