With COVID-19 putting a damper on many celebrations, George Ross was pleased to see his friends and family rally around him for his 95th birthday last Wednesday.
Ross was surprised to see a parade of vehicles honking and waving at him from a safe distance, offering their congratulations to the Scotsman on reaching a milestone year.
“The atmosphere was so good, it was a complete surprise and quite amazing,” said Ross.
Ross has lived in Golden for about 15 years, moving here from Vermont to be closer to his children and grandchildren, who already lived and worked in town.
He suspects the skiing played a part in luring his family out to the mountain town and he was happy to follow to a community he describes as positive and easy going.
Golden wasn’t the first Canadian stop for the 95-year-old, who first came to the country when he was was stationed in Canada for training with the armed forces.
Ross has lived in all the different corners of the world, country hopping every few years with his job with the British American Tobacco Company, an international organization with operations in over 80 countries.
He spent time in the U.S., Indonesia and even in India, where his son was born.
When it came time to settle down, Ross and his wife considered New Zealand before settling on Canada.
“It had always been a country we had admired, the people are so friendly and helpful,” said Ross.
“Golden is a very good place to end up when you wind up your career.”
Ross is thankful to be a part of the community in Golden and has found that he fits right in.
He values a community that prioritizes fitness and found himself out on the links for a round or two of golf on his birthday.
Returning home to the parade was the icing on the cake.
“I was quite excited because it was an unusual thing in my life and I was so humbled that so many friends got together to put on a show like that.”
The RCMP helped organize the parade, while a piper from Inverness was there to celebrate Ross’ 95 years in true Scottish form.
