Order of P.E.I. recipients announced

Sister Teresa Currie, Scott Parsons, Mary Hughes recognized for contributions

Three people are receiving P.E.I.'s most prestigious award, the Order of Prince Edward Island, for their excellence and leadership in their community.

Sister Teresa Currie, Scott Parsons and Mary Hughes are the recipients of the honour, which is handed out annually after a public nomination process.

The three, selected out of a group of 48 Prince Edward Islanders nominated, will be presented with the order's insignia during a special ceremony in the fall at Government House in Charlottetown.

Currie, a well-known Islander, is being recognized for her tireless work helping the less fortunate. Born in 1929 in Sydney Mines, Cape Breton, she entered the Sisters of St. Martha of P.E.I. in 1952. She continues to show dedication as a religious sister, teacher, missionary, chaplain and community volunteer who has contributed to many organizations over the years. She has received numerous awards including the Queen Elizabeth II Medal in 2012, the Mayor’s Citizen Recognition Award in 2021 and the Special Recognition Award from Canada’s Deputy Commissioner during the 13th Annual Crime Prevention Conference in 1999.

Huges, a registered nurse from Stratford, is referred to as P.E.I.'s original face and the strongest voice for hospice palliative care. She

has devoted much of her life to advocating for palliative care, playing an instrumental role in helping establish the Provincial Palliative Centre in 2015. Hughes’s dedication and accomplishments have been recognized through various media profiles, honours and acclamations. In 2012, she received the Queens Jubilee Medal and in 2022, shey was named Senior Islander of the Year for her outstanding contributions to communities across the province.

Award-winning singersongwriter Scott Parsons was honoured for his artistic creativity, devoting around 40 years of his life to writing songs about Black Islanders' lives and the events that shaped their lives. Parsons, who has worked with at-risk youth and trained in behaviour modification, rational emotive therapy, reality therapy, neuro-linguistic programming and other counselling and child development techniques, is also a founder of the Black Cultural Society of P.E.I., which has grown to over 300 members. In addition to many music awards, he received a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012.