Order of P.E.I. honours contributions of 3 Islanders
Sister Teresa Currie of Charlottetown, Mary Hughes of Stratford and Scott Parsons of Charlottetown are the three Islanders being named to the Order of P.E.I. for 2023.
They were selected from a total of 48 Islanders nominated this year.
The order recognizes Islanders who have shown individual excellence or outstanding leadership in their community and in their chosen occupation or profession.
Sister Teresa Currie, 93, is a member of the Sisters of St. Martha of P.E.I. — and has been a teacher, missionary, chaplain and community volunteer.
She was the coordinator of pastoral service at St. Pius X Parish in Charlottetown while also carrying out group and individual counselling sessions with young people who were incarcerated.
In 1978, Currie went to Springhill Institution to conduct clinical pastoral education until her retirement in 1996.
She has volunteered with numerous organizations including the Salvation Army, literacy clubs, Bedford MacDonald House and the Charlottetown Outreach Centre.
Mary Hughes was an vocal advocate for a stand-alone Palliative Care Unit on P.E.I.
As a nurse and volunteer, Hughes has dedicated time and energy to teaching others about palliative care.
She has been described as a kind of living, walking palliative care historian, leader and legend.
Hughes believes every Canadian faced with a life-threatening illness has a right to be able to access skilled palliative and end-of-life care.
Award winning singer-songwriter Scott Parsons has devoted 40 years of his life to writing songs that chronicle the lives of Black Islanders.
He has worked with at-risk youth and was a founder of the Black Cultural Society of P.E.I., which has more than 300 members.
Parsons wrote and recorded songs for the play The Old Stock, which is currently being taught as part of the curriculum for Grade 6 and 12 students across the Island.
He also taught Bunraku-style puppetry and toured Island schools with an anti-bullying puppet show about inclusion of people with disabilities, and has led music workshops with Indigenous youth in Lennox Island and Scotchfort First Nations.
A ceremony to honour the new members of the order will be held this fall at Government House.
