A surprise drive-by birthday parade was the COVID-safe way for friends of Grafton musician David Hayes to celebrate his 70th birthday on June 13.
There was even a special serenade, once the conga line of cars parked and people stepped out. Many of them are part of the ukulele program David runs at the Colborne Public Library, and they had brought along their ukes to play Happy Birthday for him.
A Montreal Canadiens fan, he was happy to model their birthday gift – an official Habs jersey and hat. With some impressive wins by the team in recent weeks, it was a sweet present indeed.
David's partner Wendy Bellan helped greet the guests and invited them to tour the beautiful gardens on their property at the Grafton shoreline before leaving (and to feel free to pick any dandelions or other weeds they might spot).
Pre-COVID, David and Wendy performed together as Cedarail when there was such a thing as live music. But the pandemic hasn't stopped their Northumberland 89.7 weekly show It's All About the Music, which you can hear Wednesdays from 7 to 8 p.m. (repeated Fridays from 3 to 4 a.m. for the night owls).