Exhibit celebrates Prince George's iconic Mr. PG mascot

When you drive into Prince George, it's hard to miss Mr. PG'sbig, welcoming smile.

A new exhibit at TheExploration Place Museum and Science Centre is detailing the nearly 60-year history of the city's iconic mascot.

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Alyssa Leiercertainly remembers her first encounter with Mr. PG.

"I moved to Prince George about seven years ago and I remember drivingon Highway 97 and seeing him welcome me to the city," she said. "I got a picture with him that day."

Now she has curated an exhibit on the popular representative of northern B.C.'s largest city.

The original Mr. PG was built in 1960 to promote Prince George's forest industry and represent the city. The current Mr. PG stands at the intersection of highways 16 and 97.

The eight-metre-plus statue has been featured on a postage stamp and even has a song written about him.

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Leier's favourite artifact on display is a metre-tall,iron version of Mr. PG that toured B.C. in the early 1960s before somehow gettinglost along the way.

Seventeen years later, a local spotted the missing mascot in a Scottish newspaper.

"They found him in a Scottish pub dispensing beer and smoking," said Leier. "They called him the Iron Jock."

International reputation

Mr. PG has made an impression on visitors around the world.

Assistant curator Chad Helleniusonce had an international Mr. PG experience of his own,when a gentleman in Cuba asked where in Canada he was from.

"I said a little town called Prince George. He looked up in the air ... and looked back at me and said, 'Big wooden man right outside the city?'"

The man told Hellenius he had once been in the area for a fishing trip, and the memory of a towering wooden lumberjack stuck with him all those years.

"I knew clearly that he had been though Prince George," said Hellenius. "You don't make that up and hope that it's right."

Unique finds

The exhibit features various Mr. PG memorabilia, including pins, a decorative plateand children's toys.

Helleniushopes visitors might be able to tell him more about ahand-made plush that was purchased at a local garage sale in the 1970s.

"It's missing an eye ... and it has this wonderful down-turned nose," said Hellenius. "It looks very, very well loved through the years."

Mr. PG turns 60 next year.