In case you haven’t heard, Gary Folkerts celebrated his 30th anniversary at MacKay Sposito last Thursday, April 23rd.

If you were in the Vancouver office that day there’s no way you could have missed it. Gary’s office was decorated with balloons, photos, and a “Happy Anniversary” sign, and everyone in the office wore stickers with a picture of Gary that read “Celebrating 30 Years of Gary!” We even devoted a portion of that day’s company lunch to recognizing this milestone. Cake and cupcakes were provided by Sundial Baking and Events (owned by Gary Houser’s wife, Dawn) and had to be seen to be believed - the cake was in the form of a bearing tree, and the cupcakes included decorations like iron rod caps (tasty iron rod caps, too). They tasted even better than they looked.

But the celebration didn’t stop there. On Friday night Gary’s family, friends, and the MacKay Sposito survey team, old-timers, and retirees surprised him with a party at Big Al’s. Gary received two special honors that night. The first was a trip of his choosing paid for by MacKay Sposito - perhaps an Alaskan cruise or a trip to Yosemite? The second was becoming the first recipient and permanent namesake of the Gary Folkerts Selfless Dedication Award.

Gary is a low key guy who goes about his business and doesn’t like a bunch of hoopla. But 30 years is a tremendous accomplishment, and Gary showed his selfless side by allowing us to shower him with a bit more praise and attention than he probably felt comfortable with. Thank you Gary for your 30 years of dedicated service!