The first Mr. PG that Mrs. Doreen Denicola remembers is the one that was created out of wood slabs that once stood outside the Simon Fraser Hotel in 1960.
“And he stood outside that hotel because that’s where the lumber magnates met for coffee every morning,” Mrs. Denicola recalled. Mrs.
Denicola, 95, has a great fondness for Mr. PG that goes right back to his origin. In 1990 Mrs.
Denicola took over the creation of Mr. PG when nobody else would. She made 243 dozen little wooden statues, that’s 2,916 Mr.
PGs she made with her own two hands. “I wasn’t about to let him disappear,” Mrs. Denicola said.
“The City of Prince George was once known as the White Spruce Capital of the world and Mr. PG represents the forest industry upon which this city was built.” Another way Mrs.
Denicola kept Mr. PG top of mind in the past was showcasing him in a display at Northern Hardware that saw her put out the call on the front page of The Citizen on July 11,1990, for Mr. PG memorabilia.
“I did a big display and I had canvassed the whole area – even out of the city – for anybody that had a replica of Mr. PG,” Mrs. Denicola said.
“I had to record everything and there were pages and pages of information. I had both those windows chock full – everything people had lent me. It was fun.
” Mrs. Denicola recalls one Mr. PG made of metal.
“He was used by the Rotary Club whenever they held a convention,” Mrs. Denicola said. “The people that came from furthest away were.