Yesterday we had the great honour of attending a 100th birthday celebration for renowned BC forester, Gerry Burch. The event, organized by CIF Vancouver chapter, was held on the patio at the Van Dusen Gardens in Vancouver. Appropriately, the party was surrounded by trees and the venue was sparkling with sunlight. Gerry was one of the first guests to arrive, proudly bringing along special birthday messages from the King and Queen of England and the Prime Minister of Canada! After a birthday serenade, and a rousing ‘three cheers for Gerry’ lead by his friend Alan Fry, we heard several tributes from friends and colleagues. Finally, Gerry took the microphone. One hundred years hasn’t diminished Gerry’s ability to capture an audience! He started off saying, “This is not the time to talk about the state of the industry … but I’d like to do that!” He wrapped up his address with a personal message to those in the room, saying, “You meet a lot of people in your life and most end up being acquaintances, but then there’s a few who become friends and then there’s a few of those who become special friends. I look upon you people as being special friends!”

Please enjoy the slideshow of images captured at the party (click the read more for the full show and captions).