THEBACHA/FORT SMITH - This summer, tourists in Fort Smith will be welcomed by Arctic Ambassadors.

Leon Peterson, president of the Fort Smith Seniors' Society, wears the distinctive green jacket of an Arctic Ambassador. - Paul Bickford/NNSL photo

They are seniors – clad in distinctive green jackets – who have volunteered to greet visitors.

The Arctic Ambassadors program was first launched in Yellowknife in 2008 by the NWT Seniors' Society.

Fort Smith will be the first community aside from Yellowknife to have the program.

"We've been working on it for about a year," said Leon Peterson, president of the Fort Smith Seniors' Society. "We've been talking to the NWT Seniors' Society and seeing how it works in Yellowknife and seeing what we could do here."

The program is being operated through the NWT Seniors' Society, but will eventually be taken over by the Fort Smith Seniors' Society.

Arctic Ambassadors in Fort Smith will be stationed at Mission Park in co-operation with Northern Life Museum and the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment. The historic site is what remains of the original Oblate Catholic Mission.

Peterson said seniors may also help out Parks Canada with bus tours.

They may also go to the airport and greet passengers arriving on planes.

The program should be ready to go in Fort Smith by late June, Peterson said.

"It's nice to keep seniors busy, and the seniors that have lived here a long time know the history and make it that much more attractive when they're talking to the tourists," he said.

He said it is hoped there will be close to 10 volunteers. Along with Peterson, they include such well-known Fort Smith residents as Ib Kristensen, Bea Campbell, John Schleier, Mary Heron and Maggie Kurszewski.

Kristensen said he is looking forward to becoming an Arctic Ambassador, noting he found greetings from seniors to be very helpful when he visited Calgary and Yellowknife.

"I think it's nice to come to a place and get a smile or a nod," he said.

Peterson said he is also looking forward to meeting tourists and sharing some of his experiences in Fort Smith.

"It's volunteer and, the way we see it, it's part of giving back to the community," he said.

Barb Hood, executive director of the NWT Seniors' Society, said the organization is very happy to welcome Fort Smith into the Arctic Ambassadors program.

Hood noted the society had also looked at Inuvik, Norman Wells and Fort Simpson as possible sites for Arctic Ambassadors, but seniors in those communities are not yet ready to participate.

Preliminary steps had also been taken to expand the program to Hay River, but that won't happen this year.

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