Peter Goers who is a public speaker, volunteer, columnist, radio announcer and much more, is a man for the ‘real people’, who writes and presents his radio program with unashamedly honesty.
Speaking to The Recorder recently, it became quite clear that Mr Goers loves Port Pirie and it is refreshing to hear his positive comments, rather than the usual negative media Port Pirie receives.
“It annoys me when Pirie gets a bad rap,” Mr Goers said.
“I love it when I come over the hill from Crystal Brook and see Port Pirie.”
When the travel book the Lonely Planet wrote, ‘don’t even bother going of the highway to visit Port Pirie’, Mr Goers was furious and took them on.
“It was wrong and cruel because people are missing a great town,” he said.
The man who calls a spade a spade has a love of regional South Australia, art, boxing and architecture.
“Pirie is a living museum of last century architecture,” he said.
“It has every style of architecture, public and domestic buildings.”
His first impression of Port Pirie was as a child while on a motoring holiday, his family visited the town.
“I was a kid locked in a car and when we drove into Pirie and I saw the train down the main street, I thought it was a magical place.”
In 1980 he visited a friend who was a teacher at the Port Pirie High School and was planning to go skydiving however it was too windy.
“But I had a lovely week in this wonderful place.”
He has since been visiting the city and over many years has done a number of broadcasts at ABC North Western.
“I look forward to meeting real people.”
He describes Ivy Bateman who works at the ABC as a sweetheart and one of his two best friends is Gladys who is a cleaner at the ABC along with Angela who is a cleaner at the Hospital.
Others from the community that have touched Mr Goers in some way are singer John O’Dea and young boxer Ben Noonan and his mother Tania, who is heavily involved in boxing in South Australia.
“Ben is a good kid and Tania is a wonderful, capable person,” he said after meeting them at a boxing event in Pirie.
Mr Goers speaks highly of Bishop Eugene Hurley and admires Bishop O’Kelly.
And Meg’s Bookshop is a favourite.
“It is a wonderful shop and Port Pirie is lucky to have it,” he said
The Northern Festival Centre and Keith Michel Theatre he claims is a lovely complex serving the community and he is impressed with the Catholic Cathedral.
Speaking about the Keith Michell Theatre brought to mind a past meeting Mr Goers had with Keith Michell.
He was in awe of the actor and while doing a profile on him, picked him up to go to dinner.
“I was in my old Gemini, which was full of crap, and had not been washed,” Mr Goers said.
“I am not driving in that,” said Mr Michell. “Oh well if nobody sees me.”
And he crouched down out of sight.
There is no denying Port Pirie has a great advocate in Mr Goers.
