Petes announce alumni weekend details
Gary Green, Dick Todd join Oct. 12-14 homecoming events
Peterborough Petes’ alumnus Gary Green has already received messages from other members of the 1979 Memorial Cup champion team, asking him what to wear for the team’s upcoming Alumni Homecoming Weekend.
He hasn’t heard from some teammates in years, so the communication is evidence of the building, contagious excitement about the celebration, said the former head coach and general manager, who went on to coach in the NHL before entering broadcasting.
Teammates, particularly those who win a championship, share a special bond.
“If you win together, you walk together for the rest of your lives. And that’s exactly how we feel,” Green said after details about the special weekend were announced at Providence Men’s Wear, Bar, Café and Barber on Hunter
Street West on Monday afternoon.
Green was joined by former Petes including Dick Todd, Dave Roche and Doug Gibson – just some of the 66 alumni and 80 family members who will be in the city as part of events taking place Oct. 12 to 14.
Most of the 1978-79 squad will attend a special pre-game ceremony at 7:05 p.m. on Oct. 13. The Petes will then wear specialty theme jerseys that pay tribute to the history of the club as it takes on Windsor.
Alumni will take part in events including a mixer, golf and meals. Fans can interact with them at an all-you-can-eat pizza party at the Morrow Building on Oct. 12, where the Petes road game against Oshawa will be screened.
The PTBO Northern Originals commemorative jerseys, as well as lapel pins and patches that can be pressed onto the sweaters, were co-designed by Province owner Mike Watt and Kyle McDonald of Pioneer.ca.
The project was easy for the passionate hockey fans.
“When you work on things that you love doing, it’s so much more rewarding,” Watt told those gathered.
The jerseys, which include a new logo and gold stars to represent the Petes’ nine OHL titles as well as a black star representing the 1979 cup win, will be auctioned online in support of Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy and Muscular Dystrophy Canada.
The auction has raised some $7,500 over the past three years, a show of generosity that has humbled runner Katie Simms.
“I’m so proud to be part of a community that helps others,” she told those gathered after speaking about Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a terminal childhood disease that causes a steep decline in muscle function.
Josh Groom, North American brand ambassador for event sponsor Gibson’s Finest Canadian Whisky, said the upcoming celebration is not about alcohol sales, rather about reaffirming a brand that is as iconic as the Petes.
He highlighted the charities the homecoming celebration will aid. “These types of weekends are what it’s all about for us.”
Green, who started with the Petes as an assistant coach under head coach and general manager Roger Neilson in 1975 before leading the club to its only Memorial Cup championship, credited his players for the 1979 title.
“We were fortunate to have very good players,” said the Tillsonburg native who won the Matt Leyden Trophy as OHL coach of the year that season.
The idea to bring the roster together at Milton golf course where Green was playing with Todd and some others.
They decided 40 years was a good time to do it, because no one is sure if they will be around for the 50th anniversary.
“That was the reason,” said Green, who moved back to Canada about a year ago after living in Florida for 26 years.
Tickets for the Alumni Homecoming Weekend game against the Windsor Spitfires and all games are available through the PMC Collins Barrow Box Office in person and by phone at 705743-3561 Monday to Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and at www.gopetesgo.ca.
GARY GREEN
If you win together, you walk together for the rest of your lives. And that’s exactly how we feel.’
Peterborough Petes head coach and GM for 1979 Memorial Cup win