Yellowknife (May 02/03) - Local heritage fair winners got to shake hands with a real history buff Tuesday.

The more than 20 students from Range Lake North, Mildred Hall and William McDonald schools gathered in a room at William McDonald to visit with Senator Laurier LaPierre.

Senator Laurier LaPierre checks for gold at Sasha Ross's heritage fair display called "La Prospection Dans le Nord." Ross represented the territory at last year's national heritage fair. - Erin Fletcher/NNSL photo

LaPierre is an award-winning broadcaster best known for co-hosting the controversial CBC TV show "This Hour has Seven Days."

He has a PhD in history, received the Order of Canada in 1994 and was appointed to the Senate in 2001. He is also the patron of national heritage fairs.

Yellowknife was one of three stops he made across Canada's North.

He'd just arrived from Iqaluit and was on his way to Whitehorse when he stopped in Yellowknife.

LaPierre took the time to speak with each student about their displays and listened intently while the students told him about their connections to the North and what they learned while creating their entry.

William McDonald Grade 7 student Donald Morrison interviewed local bush pilots for his project called "Bush Pilots in the North."

He interviewed two local pilots, one with almost 20 years of experience and one with only a few months.

"It's fun going out and meeting new people and learning stuff you haven't learned before," he said before LaPierre arrived.

Other displays included gold mining, the RCMP, Hudson Bay company and nursing.

A great display is one that goes beyond someone looking up a Web site, said John Stewart, curriculum co-ordinator for social studies and Northern studies for the GNWT. It should be personal and have a Canadian connection.

The top five displays will go on to represent the territory at the Canadian Heritage Fair in Sudbury, Ont., July 9 to 13.

Those winners will be determined May 11 from the 16 Yellowknife displays and the four Beaufort Delta entries.