Maureen Peters, curator at The Rooms in St. John’s, shows off a gold medal from the 1977 Canada Games. It’ll be one of the pieces on display in an upcoming exhibit, timed to celebrate the return of the games in 2025. (Heather Barrett/CBC)
In honour of the Canada Games returning to St. John’s next year, the Rooms is looking to create an exhibit celebrating the last time the games were held in the city in 1977.
“I’m looking for stories. I want to know what your experience was like in 1977. If you’re a volunteer or an observer or participant, an athlete, maybe a parent — anybody that was involved and has stories,” curator Maureen Peters told CBC News.
She’s also looking for memorabilia, like trading pins and other promotional objects to include in the exhibit that will also highlight some artifacts already in the Rooms’ collection.
“There’s a lot in the collection from the ’77 Games, not necessarily in relation to any particular athlete, but we have things like the prototype of the medals,” Peters said.
“[The exhibit is] going to be talking about how much the Canada Games in ’77 changed the landscape of St. John’s. Like the building of the Aquarena and the tennis courts and … the baseball fields in Bannerman Park, all the different developments that we saw and how much that added to sports in Newfoundland and Labrador.”
Peters said the exhibit will also look at the past and future of sports in the province, including the beginnings of the regatta and hurling, and the importance of sports in provincial history.
“And then, we’re also going to talk to athletes from 2025. So right now, I’m talking to some young athletes in St. John’s who are competing and just what it is like to become a Canada Games participant, how they’re prepping and how they feel about participating in the games that are going to be here next year,” she said.
“I want the people that come in to feel real pride in Newfoundland and Labrador’s contribution to sports in Canada, and really have a celebration and realize that we’ve had this expansive amount of sports that we are involved in that people don’t think about.”
Peters said anyone who wants to contribute to the exhibit should email her.
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