Beaver Harbour, New Brunswick’s Arnold Hawkins turned 110 years old on Saturday.
In pre-pandemic times, an open-house party would normally mark the occasion, as it has for his past few birthdays.
With large gatherings off the table this year, his family sought out a different way to celebrate by putting out a public call for birthday cards.
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“The original idea was to see if we could get 110 cards for 110 years,” Hawkins’ granddaughter Cheryl McKinley says.
“I wasn’t even sure if we’d get that many but it just kind of exploded.”
She says they had at least 5,000 on hand by the big day, with more still rolling in each time the mail comes.
“I’m kind of overwhelmed to be honest,” McKinley says with a laugh.
“I’ve definitely run out of room in my card corner.”
They’ve come in from provinces and territories across Canada and as far as Australia, Germany and the U.K.
Not bad for a project they didn’t expect to leave Charlotte County.
McKinley thinks her grandfather’s given hope to people in a time when that can be hard to come by.
“The amount of love given and the stories people are sending about their own families… it’s just pretty amazing,” McKinley says.
She’s been reading the cards to him as they come for hours each day.
“It might take me until his birthday next year,” she says.
“I might still be reading cards to him.”
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