Why this Canada Games jacket is still iconic 32 years later

Keep your eyes peeled over the next two weeks and you might just see one of the most iconic pieces of clothing for Prince Edward Islanders: the green-and-white jackets, emblazoned with the Canada Games logo over the heart, that were handed out to volunteers in 1991. 

Yes, these nylon jackets have been around for 32 years, and are still going strong as the Games return to the Island from Feb. 18 to March 5.

One place you will find them is at the heart of a 1991 Canada Games memorabilia display put together by Don Murnaghan at the Eastlink Centre in Charlottetown.

The Charlottetown Hockey Memorabilia Room features hundreds of hockey artifacts that Murnaghan has collected over the years.

But he is excited to have pulled together an impressive collection of items from the 1991 Canada Winter Games.

He started by reaching out to the 500 members of a Facebook group dedicated to the 1991 Canada Games volunteer jackets, made by Shain of Canada. 

"I called a number of people and I said, 'I'm hoping to put on a 1991 Games display, would you be willing to loan or donate your items?' And I've had an excellent response," Murnaghan said. 

"We have just about all the key items from the 1991: the iconic jacket, which you see everywhere, the sweaters, the pins in particular — those are collectors items.

"The Walkman has the original march in song for the '91 games, so that's unique as well. The idea of getting it out there and letting people see the items, I think, was exciting for those people."

The jacket is the obvious centrepiece of the 1991 displays.

"I think perhaps the fact that there aren't many left, and it's a unique jacket, it's associated with the Games," Murnaghan said. 

"The people who have them, they love to wear them. I