After I checked into the hotel, I unpacked my suitcase then called BARBARA WAIMAN. Barbara is the coordinator of the Camrose Adult Read and Write Program and, being an accomplished golfer, was attending the Tournament on behalf of the LCA.

The wine and cheese reception was at 6:30. Driving over to the Willow Park Golf and Country Club from the hotel, Barb commented on the beautiful fall weather. "Perfect weather for the last game of the season," she said.

We hung up our coats and went into the reception. I looked around the crowded room and didn't see Peter right away. Then I saw a tall, ruddy-faced man surrounded by people. Peter looked up and winked at me from across the room, leaving the group shortly afterward to come and say hello. He greeted us as if we were old friends and before too long, we were enjoying the live music, delicious food and the energy of the people participating in the Tournament. Throughout the evening, teammates were introduced to each other and plans made for the next morning's golf game.

At the Silent Auction, I bid on (and ended up with) a tape of an interview Peter did with Prime Minister Brian Mulroney in September of 1989. Later in the evening when things were a bit quieter, I presented Peter with Howard's letter. Peter was genuinely delighted with how the letter had come to him and I dearly wished that Howard could have been there, instead of me.

I hardly slept that night. Murray's voice kept going around in my head. "Keep your eye on the ball, keep your left arm straight, relax as you swing ..." I woke up early the next morning and looked out the window. I literally reached up and rubbed my eyes. It was snowing. Without warning, Indian summer had turned cold and white.

I found Barb at the Golf Club, drinking her morning cup of coffee in disbelief. People were arriving to play golf in their ski clothes, and I, having left home 3 days before, was totally unprepared for the snow.

As far as my golf game went, the day was a disaster. I bought a box of florescent golf balls at the pro shop; white ones were impossible to find in the snow but even then, I lost most of them. At one point, one of my team mates, Darryl Gregory, who works with Edmonton's Continuing Education Council, told me to lean on the insides of my feet for better balance. I looked at him and said, "Darryl, my feet are so frozen I can't even feel them." He quietly went and got me a hot toddy.

Even with the snow, the First Annual Calgary Peter Gzowski Invitational Tournament was a great success, raising over $60,000 for the Calgary Learning Centre. I was amazed. I had just come from visiting Ida, who cheerfully sells literacy T-shirts wherever she can to raise much needed money to buy resources for her program. The Calgary Learning Centre, with its graciousness and strong organization, had targeted the right group, and Peter Gzowski, with his charm and wit, had shown everyone a good time.

I really struggled through the Tournament. Not just because playing golf in the snow was miserable but because I felt out of place. I wanted all the literacy workers to be there, to join in the fun that all the corporate people were having promoting literacy. How can a part- time literacy worker working alone in a rural community, ever hope to raise money or awareness in the way that this golf tournament could? And yet the need for support for their programs is just as great, if not greater. We are all fighting for increased funding; how can the little guy ever hope to compete?

Driving back to Camrose, I played my tape of Peter and Brian Mulroney. I was glued to both men's words for over an hour. Peter was asking Mr. Mulroney about the future of Canada. Peter was emotional and involved; Mr. Mulroney, cool and controlled.

I thought how fitting it is that a man like Peter Gzowski should be involved in literacy. Like so many people who work in the field, Peter is bright and intelligent, warm and caring, fun loving, and above all, human.