By noon on his 99th birthday, Rudy Johnson of Williams Lake received more than 100 birthday cards.
A family friend had put out a call on Facebook asking people to send Johnson cards, knowing he would get a kick out of receiving them.
READ MORE: ‘It started small and has snowballed’: 99th birthday cards requested for Williams Lake senior
“This is pretty nice,” Johnson said on his birthday, Monday, Dec. 13, as he listened to music in his room at Seniors Village Retirement Concepts where he has been living for more than six years.
“Someone’s going to come and hang them all up for me on the wall.”
When asked how it felt to turn 99 he said ‘no different,’ and added “I feel great.”
On Monday evening, his daughter Debbie Fisher, hosted a family birthday dinner for him.
“I made ham and scalloped potatoes, his favourite,” she said. “We had a lots of good times and memories. Our MLA Lorne Doerkson was there too.”
His cake was Black Forest as Fisher said he loves anything with chocolate.
Fisher was visiting her dad Tuesday and reading some more cards with him.
Retired motion picture stuntman, animal trainer and costumer Lee Sollenberger, who lives in the Cariboo, created a hand-made card for Johnson, something he has been doing for several years.
“I met the Johnsons’ friend Adele Hamilton when I was working with Dwayne Davis on some murals and she asked if I would make them a card,” Sollenberger said. “I would make cards for Rudy and Helen together, but now that she is gone I will just make them for Rudy.”
The front of Sollenberger’s card depicted a moose with the words ‘Rudy, It Moose be Your Birthday.’
“He’s such a relic to the community when you think of all the things he has done and accomplished in his life,” he said of Johnson. “I am glad he got 100 cards and that people respect him that much to send them.”
READ MORE: CASUAL COUNTRY 2021: The legacy of Rudy Johnson and the bridge
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