The resort community of Falcon Lake, in eastern Manitoba, was the first stop for the Olympic flame when it arrived in the province Tuesday. (Aarti Pole/CBC)The Olympic flame has made its way to Manitoba.

The cross-Canada torch relay arrived in Falcon Lake on Tuesday morning, about 130 kilometres east of Winnipeg, near the Manitoba-Ontario border, where supporters shaking tambourines and bells gave it a loud greeting.

"A lot of people are wearing their Olympic gear," said CBC News reporter Aarti Pole. "They've got signs up. They've got bells and whatnot that they're ringing.

"There's some really young kids here as well and they're holding the Canadian flag. You really get a sense of pride and excitement about how people are feeling."

Falcon Lake is the hometown of Megan Imrie, who is competing in the biathlon at the Winter Games in Vancouver next month. Imrie's parents said they were excited to see such strong community support for their daughter and her fellow Olympians.

Students on hand from area schools said they viewed Imrie as an inspiration and a local hero.

1,500 schoolchildren cheer in snow

The torch relay will travel along the Trans-Canada Highway and through several communities along the way before heading north to Oakbank and Selkirk then back towards Winnipeg along Highway 8 (Main Street).

Olympics supporters gather in Falcon Lake to welcome the torch relay Tuesday, with several holding a banner for local Olympian Megan Imrie. (CBC)In Steinbach, about 50 kilometres southeast of Winnipeg, thousands of people — including roughly 1,500 schoolchildren — lined the relay route long before the torch arrived around 11:30 a.m.

"It's cold. It's snowing. But it's doing nothing to dampen Olympic spirits here in Steinbach," CBC News reporter Katie Nicholson said.

The flame arrived in the Winnipeg suburb of Transcona on the eastern edge of the city at about 4:20 p.m. Its path through the city will start at 4:30 p.m. from the Ed Golding Memorial Arena (517 Pandora Ave. E.).

It will then make its way along Regent Avenue and Nairn Avenue then into St. Boniface, along Provencher Boulevard. It will continue onto Waterfront Drive, into the Exchange District and out to Main Street where it will turn west along Portage Avenue to Memorial Boulevard and end up at the Manitoba legislature around 6:30 p.m.

From there it will travel east on Broadway Avenue and back onto Main Street, ending at The Forks at around 7 p.m. for the Olympic Torch Relay Community Celebration.

The event will run from 5 to 8 p.m. and include performances by dancers and musicians as well as a fireworks display.

Loop through the Interlake

The torch relay will leave Winnipeg on Wednesday, Jan. 5, and make a loop through the Interlake region, including Peguis First Nation about 145 kilometres north of Winnipeg, before briefly returning to the city on Thursday.

From there it will make an appearance in 20 other communities south and west of the city.

It will arrive in Portage la Prairie on Thursday and leave on Friday, headed for Brandon. The last place in Manitoba the torch will visit is Virden on Friday before it crosses into Saskatchewan.

In all, the relay will visit 33 Manitoba communities.

The journey of the Olympic flame began Oct. 30 in Victoria and passed through the northern half of Canada, including Manitoba in early November, before it hit the East Coast and turned west once again for a return trip along a southern route.

The relay, a ritual that first took place for the 1936 Summer Games in Germany, will end with the lighting of the Olympic cauldron at the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver on Feb. 12.

Torch relay route in Manitoba