If you’re an Islander you will want to watch Eastern Graphic by the NFB

PEI, you'll just have to see it for yourself

“Prince Edward Island there’s no place like it,” said the young girl in the yellow top sitting on a PEI beach in 1974. “You’ll just have to see it for yourself.”

The NFB documentary on PEI back in 1974 is being featured on the Eastern Graphic website. It is billed as “A look at Prince Edward Island through the eyes of Jim McNeil, editor and publisher of the Eastern Graphic, the Island’s only weekly. Filmed during the 1974 provincial election, the film places particular emphasis on grass-roots politicking and the newspaper’s role in reporting on it.”

It’s wonderful to see Jim MacNeil in action but the real thrill for Islanders, here and away, will be the Island scenes and people, especially the people.

I first came to PEI as young boy visiting his grandparents for the summer in the 1950s. I moved here for good two days before Christmas 1975 – exactly 34 years ago today. The film Eastern Graphic is about the PEI I remember.

Some of rural and small town PEI is gone, developed into history with government money and progress. The recent closure of rural schools is another nail in the coffin of rural PEI. Some of it is still here, in the country and the people.

The film is 19 minutes long so get a coffee or other refreshment and sit down. You might want to get your parents to watch. This is a priceless film that will carry you back to a by-gone day.

If you’re like me, you recognize many of the faces in this film. Alec Campbell and Jim MacNeill are the easy ones. How about Lowie Johnston and Danny Carmichael?

See how good you are in naming Islanders in the film. Could be you, or a relative or a friend. We’re going to put up pictures of everyone who appears in the film to create a photo album of Islanders. Name that Islander photo will start later today, after I get my Christmas shopping finished.