Art Devlin (Photo provided)

LAKE PLACID — Lake Placid Mayor Art Devlin and Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism Chief Operating Officer Mary Jane Lawrence will fly to Athens, Greece to celebrate the World Union of Olympic Cities’ 20th Anniversary from May 22 to 24.

The village board of trustees unanimously agreed to use funds set aside for travel expenses to pay for the mayor’s airfare, which village Treasurer Mindy Goddeau estimated would cost around $650 roundtrip. Goddeau said there is a contingency fund in the village budget for items like these. She said it was her understanding that Devlin would pay for any additional costs while in Greece. Goddeau said the village is not covering Lawrence’s airfare.

Devlin is a member of the WUOC’s executive board. The village and ROOST are joint members of the WUOC, and Devlin said that’s why one representative from each organization is traveling to Athens. He said that’s also why they split the trip expenses.

The event’s itinerary includes “on-site visits,” which Devlin said usually includes going to see some former Olympic venues. For this trip, Devlin said, the site visits would be going way back into the past — Athens was the birthplace of the Olympics. Sites like the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens, first used for the Panathenaic Games in 330 B.C., played host to events during the first official Olympic games in 1896.

The itinerary also lists “presentations” as an event. Devlin said he hasn’t been asked to give a presentation, though that doesn’t mean he won’t. He said that last year, when he traveled to Copenhagen with former village Mayor Craig Randall for the WUOC’s Smart Cities and Sports Summit, he was given around 10 minutes’ notice to prepare a speech that was publicized worldwide.