Hay River (Sep 18/06) - The Northwest Territories has lots of accents, but probably nobody actually sounds like a pirate.

But, that will all change Sept. 19, International Talk Like a Pirate Day."

To celebrate, Hay River's Growing Together - a program for children and their parents - is sponsoring a get-together at the town's public library.

Hay River's Karen Peters and her 15-month-old son Maclean are ready for International Talk Like a Pirate Day. - Paul Bickford/NNSL photo

Brenda Hall, Growing Together executive director, said she first heard of the special day from her brother-in-law, a history professor at a college in Denver, Colorado.

"I said, 'Really? This just sounds like something we have to do,'" she recalled responding.

International Talk Like a Pirate Day has been around since the 1990s, but Hall believes this will be the first time it will be celebrated in the Northwest Territories.

"It's just something different and something fun," she said, noting the event at NWT Centennial Library is open to members of the public of any age. They are being encouraged to come dressed like pirates.

To help people talk like pirates, Hall will be handing out lists of appropriate words to use. The event will also feature pirate stories and crafts, such as creating paper hats and parrots.

"We'll be serving grog, a pirate drink," Hall added, noting it won't be anything alcoholic. "We'll do our own version of grog."

Growing Together parents are looking forward to International Talk Like a Pirate Day.

"I think it's cute," said Karen Peters. "It's fun for the kids and interactive."

Lynne Buth, another Growing Together parent, has three young children, and all will be going 7 p.m. on Sept. 19.

"I think it is hilarious," she said.

Buth noted her children love the song "They Know You're a Pirate When They Hear You Say Arrrr" from the TV program The Backyardigans.

Her children walk around the house singing the song, she said. "They go around saying "arrrr" with one eye closed."

The Day began as a joke between two friends in Oregon.

One day in the 1990s, John Baur and Mark Summers were playing racquetball and for some reason began insulting each other in pirate jargon. Because they found it was so much fun, they launched International Talk Like a Pirate Day.

The idea sailed around the world on the Internet, and it is now celebrated by millions of people each Sept. 19.