The 1977 opening ceremonies kicked off more than just the Canada Summer Games
Bob Porter and Mary Ellen Winter Porter meet volunteering
The Canada Summer Games made its way to St. John's for the first time in 1977, putting Newfoundland and Labrador on the national stage but also setting the stage for an unlikely love story.
Hundreds of people, including young folks like St. John's locals Bob Porter and Mary Ellen Winter Porter signed up to be volunteers.
"I thought, gosh, what an experience that would be," Porter told CBC News, 48 years later.
"So I threw my name in the hat."
Just 24 at the time, Porter said she wanted to be part of the action as well.
"It was something different," Winter Porter said. "I'm not an athlete myself, so to be involved in this was just exciting."
As hosts they wore bright blue outfits adorned with '77 Canada Summer Games logo and answered questions people might have.
While the biggest question came from Porter a little later, Winter Porter recalled how the pair of strangers were pulled together due to the height of their hands to the ground.
"They measured from the floor up to where our arms ended, where we would hold on to the banner," said Porter.
Winter Porter added "the Ontario banner was very straight."
When the team from Ontario entered the field on Westerland Road in St. John's, Porter and Winter Porter stood side by side, leading the young athletes in.
In an opening ceremony that featured a speech from then Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, song, dance and a wild pair of sunglasses worn by St. John's' mayor at the time, Dorothy Wyatt, the real action for Porter and Winter Porter happened holding a sign.
"That kind of started a pattern of events," Porter said. "Ultimately [it] ended in my wife and I dating and, and marrying a year later."
The games went on to see some great stories come from it, but for the Porters, it changed their entire lives.
The pair eventually moved to the province they had led into the games, with them settling near Ottawa.
The 1977 Canada Summer Games became a part of their family history, a history they are now sharing with others.
Winter Porter kept her volunteer uniform from nearly 50 years ago.
"I guess it brought back good memories," she said.
When the couple heard The Rooms in St. John's was on the hunt for '77 memorabilia for a new sporting exhibit, the suit got shipped home and donated.
"We're really excited to be able to tell their story and tell how the games affected this family," said curator Maureen Peters.
"It was all brought together by the '77 games."
Porter said if it weren't for the Canada Summer Games he wouldn't have met his wife. It was a love story that started with two young volunteers who just wanted to get out and do something different.
"We would probably never have married. We would never have had the three wonderful kids we have," he said.
"The chances of us meeting were probably very slim, but this was an event that just happened to bring the two of us together and you know, history just happened."
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