Prince George and Terry Fox have run together since before the start of the Marathon of Hope and a few more strides were added Monday.
Fate played an historically important card when Fox first used Prince George's fall marathon to test his abilities to run a significant distance on his prosthetic leg. It worked, and crossing the Prince George to Boston finish line in 1979 broke the final ribbon in Fox's mind that he could indeed attempt the famed run across Canada to raise money and awareness for cancer causes. (As an added twist of kismet, a wheelchair athlete named Rick Hansen also used the 1979 marathon for the same reason.)
The special connection between Fox and Prince George is why a statue of the national hero stands at Community Foundation Park where that marathon had its starting line.
It is also why The Exploration Place Museum and Science Centre was granted the chance to host the official Terry Fox legacy display that has been on display there throughout the autumn, and definitely why Terry Fox: Running to the Heart of Canada has now been held over for two very fateful reasons.
The first factor is how successful it's been. The Exploration Place has rarely seen an audience outpouring like this display has generated. It has been a box office smash.
The Terry Fox Centre has been looking for a place where the exhibition can have a permanent home and the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame in Calgary agreed to host it for an extensive period of time. These negotiations did not allow for the show to leave Prince George and move into the Hall seamlessly and it is difficult to store such artifacts unless it is inside the regimented climate controls of a Class-A gallery.
With some quick stickhandling, the goodwill of another exhibition agency and the support of some local Prince George sponsors, it was made possible for The Exploration Place to hang onto this display for another month, giving the public here one more chance to see one of the most popular shows it has ever hosted.
"We are thrilled that the residents of Prince George and area have been offered the opportunity to experience the Terry Fox exhibit for another month," said Darrell Fox, Terry's brother and one of the main organizers of the exhibit. "The Exploration Place team has shown a sincere and impassioned appreciation for all things Terry and for this we are eternally grateful."
They had help.
First, the Canadian Museum of History and the Sherbrooke Museum of Science & Nature had to agree to postpone the opening of their exhibit - the one scheduled to replace the Terry Fox show. But there was no way to postpone the arrival of all the incoming artifacts and specimens in their travel crates.
It was a love for Terry Fox that motivated the officials at these other institutions to work out a compromise.
"While we are very grateful to our partner institutions for their dedication and flexibility, this is, after all, what Canada expects of their museum professionals; to safeguard those objects that hold our collective memory," said The Exploration Place CEO Tracy Calogheros.
Next came the necessary help of Terry Fox Run coordinator Scott McWalter and The Exploration Place board chair Katherine Scouten, who started reaching out to personal contacts to get the crates in limbo into warm, dry, secure storage.
Local company Mason Lift stepped up to help with transportation and warehouse space.
The cash implications of this transaction were covered by another sponsor, PG Recycling and Return-it Centre.
"Austin Kim, owner of PG Recycling and Return-it Centre, will not only support this extension with a donation, but he will make it possible for the whole community to help out, too," McWalter said. "He will donate 100 per cent of his charity donation bin program to The Exploration Place from Feb. 1 to Apr. 30. It is projected that these bins will accumulate approximately $1,000 a month. So far, since 2015, these bins have raised over $45,000 for over a dozen local charities and non-profit organizations."
Scouten said this "great new partnership" was important income at a critical time for The Exploration Place and she encouraged the public to donate into the boxes located at Canadian Tire, the YMCA, CN Centre, Sign-patico and at the 2614 Petersen Road headquarters to maximize the benefit.
Calogheros added that staffing at The Exploration Place was being juggled, due to this new chance to host the Terry Fox show another month. They heard from the public that people were keen to see the display but couldn't always get there, with work and school to consider.
"I have had the chance to huddle with my management team and we are going to run some evening hours during the extended Terry Fox exhibit," she said. "Starting Jan. 22 and continuing every Wednesday thereafter for the duration of the exhibit, we will be open until 8 p.m."
