Mr. PG, Prince George’s iconic and beloved mascot, just turned 65.
He was first unveiled on May 8, 1960, at the Rotary International conference held at the Simon Fraser Inn, and was later put on display outside the former Simon Fraser Hotel on Quebec Street in downtown Prince George.
Over the decades, Mr. PG has seen many changes — his body has been rebuilt from wood to aluminum, and he has moved locations around town three times.
Even his miniature version has lived an adventurous life, famously going missing at an international conference and travelling the world for 10 years before being found in a Scottish pub by a local resident.
One of Mr. PG’s most devoted fans is Bob Kronbauer — better known as BC Bob — who hosts Now You Know BC, a show dedicated to uncovering the province’s unique people, places and landmarks. Kronbauer recently partnered with The Exploration Place to release new Mr. PG merchandise.
Kronbauer said he has fond childhood memories of seeing Mr. PG during family visits to Prince George.
“As a kid, we would take the Greyhound bus from Vernon to my grandma’s in Prince George. Every summer we would go there,” said Kronbauer. “She lived by the Pine Centre Mall, and when we saw Mr. PG, we knew the long bus ride was over and we got to hang out in the great city of Prince George.”
Having explored much of BC, Kronbauer said he’s never seen another mascot with quite the same impact.
“There aren’t many — or any — other communities in all of B.C. that have a personified mascot that really represents the city,” he said. “You think of Kami the Kamloops Trout — it was short-lived, didn’t represent the place, and went the way of the dinosaur. But Mr. PG has been around for 65 years. There’s nothing else like him in British Columbia that people can rally around as a community.”
Kronbauer said Mr. PG represents not only the town but the spirit of its residents.
“To me, he represents the hope of Prince George as a forestry community,” he said. “He’s always stood there as a reminder to everybody rolling through or going to Prince George of how proud people are of their community.”
Darren Rigo, a local professional photographer and videographer, is another long-time fan of Mr. PG. He once acted as a social media advocate for the mascot during an online popularity contest — and he even sports a Mr. PG tattoo.
“There was this online bracket about the best roadside attraction in British Columbia,” said Rigo. “Mr. PG almost won. He got second place and lost by one per cent to the Coombs rooftop goats.
“During that battle, I became a bit of a conduit by which Prince George was fighting a little Twitter fight. I made him a bit of a front-and-centre character in my mind. I just thought, he’s such a silly icon for this town — and that just makes so much sense. He doesn’t take himself too seriously. He’s just so goofy, which I love.”
For Rigo, Mr. PG embodies the down-to-earth nature of life in northern BC.
“My sense of Prince George and the North in general is that we pride ourselves on not taking ourselves too seriously,” he said. “You probably wouldn’t be in downtown Vancouver expecting to see a silly giant log man, but we’re all like, ‘Oh yeah, that’s our guy.’”
He added that Mr. PG’s charm lies in his simplicity.
“There is this trend of design getting more boring over time,” said Rigo. “People use McDonald’s as a metaphor — they used to be fun, colourful and exciting, and now they’re all minimalist, modern buildings. Mr. PG doesn’t feel like he was made by a committee. He feels like he was drawn on the back of a napkin by two lumberjacks out for a beer.”
Mr. PG has felt the community’s love on his birthday this year. A Facebook post from the City of Prince George celebrating the milestone had drawn more than 120 comments at the time of publication, with residents sharing fond memories and birthday wishes.
The city also organized a scavenger hunt in Mr. PG’s honour. More details are available on the City of Prince George’s Facebook page.
