I happened to see an interview on CKPG TV last week that really caught my interest. The reporter was talking to long time Elks member Adrian Peters about the fact that the annual May Day Parade might not happen this year due to the lack of marching bands and commercial floats.
I checked with my other contacts at the Elks and they were not familiar with Adrian Peters was but they sure knew who Pete Peters was. It turns out that when Pete was a small child his mother always called him Bud. As a result he did not know how to pronounce his first name so he told everyone his name was Pete and the nickname still sticks today.
Pete (Adrian) Peters was born in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island in the year of 1928 and graduated from the Prince of Wales College in 1947, after which he started working for the Royal Bank. He worked in several Maritime communities and then transferred to British Columbia as part of the Royal Bank inspection staff. This move enabled him to travel all over BC. He was transferred to the Prince George Branch in 1956 and he has been here ever since.
Pete's wife June passed away in 1998. Together they raised six children, daughter Kerri who passed away due to cancer, Gary, Brendon, Scott and Shelly Penner who all live and work in Fraser Lake and Dara Lowenberger his eldest daughter who lives in Regina, Saskatchewan. Pete proudly says, "I have been blessed with many grand children and great grand children who all live out of town but visit regularly."
Pete has been an active Elks member for 52 years. If you do the math, Pete was a mere 33 years old when he officially started volunteering in this community. I am sure that you would agree that this is very commendable. Meeting people like Pete is why I love doing this column.
Pete was the project chair during the construction of the Elks building on Sixth Avenue, Allan Greenwell was the architect and Viking Construction was the contractor. Pete said, "We worked well together and I made sure we got it done for a reasonable price. That was 42 years ago when you could negotiate things like that."
"Now the service clubs are in danger of going by the way side. In the past we held our own fundraising bingos and poker parties until the government took control of gaming with the promise of gaming grants. We used to have a bar; it was all so social and it drew in members. Back then our membership numbers were strong. A service club is a community builder. Service clubs do not raise money for themselves; instead it all goes back into the community. The Elks have always been successful because of a watchful eye and hard work. We have an endowment fund at UNBC in the amount of approximately $180,000, we give regularly to our local hospital, we maintain a CNC endowment fund and we give annually to the Hospice House and several other local institutions. We are still known for our meat draws and our annual fruit run and we intend to keep right on working for our community."
Pete says, "I can remember many years ago when the Elks sponsored a private fishing trip to Hart Lake for seniors. We hired buses to get them out there and we all volunteered to row their boats. We fed them and all they had to do was spend the day fishing. All the boats were supplied and delivered out to the lake by Howie's Marine Service. Howie Witt is still a long time member of the Elks. Over the years he did a lot of good things for people in Prince George."
"I am 85 years old and The Elks is a big part of my life. I still do all the reporting and the year end financial statements. We no longer have a lodge building - just an office at 1880 15th Ave. My advice is to keep active, keep alert, volunteer and stay happy!"
I personally want to take this opportunity to say thank you to the benevolent Elks for their recent donation of $3,500 to go towards the purchase of and the installation of 12 hard of hearing headsets for a local senior centre.
