Jennifer Pritchett
Northern News Services

RANKIN INLET (Aug 17/98) - Wayne Rostad of CBC TV's On the Road Again enjoys getting off the beaten path to meet the unique personalities who live in Canada's far corners.

The host of the long-time program did just that last week when he visited Rankin Inlet and Pelly Bay to film three Northerners who will be featured on the program, now entering its twelfth season.

"We celebrate what we call quiet Canadians -- not the rich, not the famous," he said. "These are the people who we like to raise the flag on -- the unsung heroes. They're in every community."

And children's author Michael Kusugak of Rankin Inlet, Zachary Oogark and Victoria Jason of Pelly Bay are all noteworthy for their accomplishments and contributions to their community.

They're all unique in their own ways -- Kusugak for his stories, often born out of his own childhood experiences, Jason for her efforts to bring back the age-old tradition of kayaking in Pelly Bay, and Oogark for his ability to catch arctic char in stone weirs as was the Inuit practice years ago.

Rostad, who says his Ottawa-based crew all vie for trips to the North, always looks forward to seeing the landscape again as well as meeting the people of the Arctic.

"The sense of the land, the anticipation of seeing the North again..the expanse, the challenge of it fills one with the sense of adventure," he said.

And Kusugak is able to capture this flavor of the North, both past and present, in his books.

"What's fascinating to us is that he's putting down, in the written word, what has been told (as stories) for years," he said.

Kusugak, author of Baseball Bats for Christmas and several other stories, is a soft-spoken man who often writes with a notebook on his lap sitting on a rock on the Barrens which surround Rankin Inlet. Modest about his accomplishment as a writer, he's thrilled to be featured on the program.

"I've been on Midday a couple of times, but this is a first," he said.

Rostad said meeting people like Kusugak, Jason and Oogark is a rare opportunity, one he genuinely appreciates.

While he and the rest of his crew typically travel to the North every two years, Rostad expects to spend more time North of 60 in the coming seasons to feature more Northerners on the show.

"We've just re-arranged our schedule to come to the North every year," he said. "We've just juggled our finances. With the advent of three territories, we'll try to touch on three of those."