Next week we celebrate the 2014 NWT PGI for Literacy. PGI stands for Peter Gzowski Invitational.
I urge you to come out to PGI events next week because we believe there’s fun in fundraising.
On Monday, October 6, at 6 pm enjoy free food and entertainment at the Premier’s Feast at the Chief Drygeese Centre, in Dettah. Tuesday and Wednesday, October 7 and 8, at 7 pm there will be two different PGI Concerts for Literacy at the Northern Arts and Cultural Centre.
The concerts will feature our PGI celebrity guests: Connie Kaldor, Wesley Hardisty, Barney Bentall, Dustin Bentall, Mike Stevens, Jonathan Torrens, Russell deCarle, Diga with TJ Buggins, Kendel Carson, Willy Mammoth, Grey Gritt, Indio, Godson and Miranda Currie.
The PGI is the major fundraiser to support community literacy projects in the NWT. The money raised supports community projects that help NWT residents thrive in their families, communities, at work and at play.
What started out almost 30 years ago as one golf tournament in Ontario to raise money for literacy, has evolved in the NWT into school and community performances and a community feast featuring southern and northern entertainers who come together in the spirit of fun to continue the fundraising legacy of Peter Gzowski.
Our newest employee, Laura Eby, described people of a certain generation as being nostalgic about the long-time CBC Morningside host. We increasingly understand that many people were not around during the 15 years of Peter’s run on Morningside, for his TV show or his earlier stint on CBC radio’s This Country in the Morning. Peter endeared himself to northerners through his love of the North and his frequent visits. But, younger folks wonder, who’s Peter Gzowski?
Here’s a short clip from the CBC archives for those who want a hit of nostalgia, and for those of you who want to know what all the fuss is about. The importance Peter placed on literacy is as relevant today as when he died in 2002. We’re lucky at the NWT Literacy Council to see first hand how literacy changes lives.
-- Michael Corbett
-Taken from, An outpouring of grief greets death of Peter Gzowski Canadians mourn the death of "Captain Canada." - CBC archives
