Today Buzzy would have been 85 and I wish he was here to celebrate it with us. I was fortunate enough however to have celebrated several birthdays with him when we were on trips overseas somewhere. One occasion I remember well was in South Africa where we toured around for 20 some days on what was to be our longest trip. At the onset of the trip the tour guide had given us an overview of the itinerary and noted that 11 October would be our most demanding day of travel as we would be making our way north east to Kruger National Park via a day-long bumpy bus ride. Upon hearing this, Buzzy looked at me and said “I may need to double up on the Black Velvet that day.” (He always had his stash of BV and would plan each day’s excursions according to how much he would need for that day.)
Well on the 11th we wound our way up and through the countryside to Kruger and as the guide promised it was a long trip. By the time we rolled into the park that evening with a late dinner scheduled Buzzy said he was going to skip it and lay back. However, after a couple more BV’s he elected to go to dinner anyway. Dinner was a nice event held outdoors with dancers and singers providing entertainment. Following dinner the tour guide announced that it was Buzzy’s birthday, proposed a toast and we all sang happy birthday to him. Afterwards as we made our way back to the room Buzzy noted “Well turned out to be a pretty good birthday after all.” Pictured below is Buzzy’s Birthday toast at Kruger Park.