Opening the door for a giant
Yesterday I held the door open for a giant.
There isn`t a day that goes by that I don`t meet someone new. There isn`t a day goes by that I don`t learn something new. I like volunteering for that reason alone, and yesterday was no different.
The Council of Forest Industries Conference I was helping at in Prince George was well attended with representatives from customers, suppliers, financial institutions, law firms, local government, chambers of commerce,federal and provincial ministers, MPs, MLAs and senior civil servants. Speeches and announcements were made. Important stuff for our Province and the City of Prince George.
My role was to man the registration booth at the Conference Centre, answering questions and handing out forms as delegates entered through the main doors. Day two was rather slow so I spent most of my time watching others, who were coming and going from the seminars.
Just as everyone started to file into the main auditorium for the final luncheon, I noticed an elderly gentlemen walking up to the main entrance. This dapperly dressed gentlemen was moving slowly but deliberately through the first set of doors with no one in site to help him. I scooted out to the second set of doors and held them open for him. He gave me a nod as he entered into the melee of people going to the luncheon. I quickly scampered back to my place behind the information counter. Interestingly people started to make way for this senior citizen as he walked up to the counter, nodded at me once again and then started chatting with some friends that had gathered around him. Momentarily, he put on his name tag. That is when I realized who the fellow was, Ike Barber!!!
Dr. Barber’s generosity has been instrumental in helping to establish programs to promote research with the creation of the I.K. Barber Enhanced Forestry Laboratory at UNBC, the Irving K. Barber Chair in Diabetes Research at UBC, the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre at U.B.C. and the Ike Barber Human Islet Transplant Laboratory at Vancouver Hospital in partnership with UBC. There is even a bridge named after the family in Prince George. The list goes on and on, at UNBC Okanagan, Thompson Rivers University and Kwantlen College, every corner of the Province.
Truly a giant among men, and I held the door open for him; what a great day.
