Submitted photo - Nixon Staples holds a sign made for him after his ninth birthday on on the 27th. Staples received a drive by birthday celebration from a group of dedicated Hatters.
mcranker@medicinehatnews.com@MHNmocranker
A group of dedicated Hatters has teamed up to help others celebrate their birthdays during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since gatherings of 15 or more people are now banned in the province, Hatters are celebrating birthdays from a safe distance. Groups of people are decorating their cars and driving by residences of those turning a year older.
“I have a friend who has a daughter who had a party cancelled because of all of this,” said one of the organizers, Amberlee Goreham. “We wanted to find a nice, safe way of still celebrating these important occasions, just from a distance.
“Originally we were going to stand on our friend’s lawn with signs, but we saw people online doing similar drive-by celebrations like this.
“We decided to try it for our friend – and for the rest of Medicine Hat.”
The dedicated group of birthday enthusiasts can be found on Facebook by searching ‘COVID-19 Birthday Drive By – Medicine Hat.’ It is nearing 500 members, with numerous meetups per week, and even multiple per day.
“We have a pretty dedicated group,” said Goreham. “We decorate our cars, play music and have balloons and drive by houses.
“It’s not even just kids anymore that are enjoying this – some people are getting their 50-year-old parents or grandparents involved.”
Goreham says she has been amazed by the support.
“Over the course of a week, this whole thing has blown up,” she said. “We’ve got about 40 or 50 more birthdays we’re going to do this for people.
“We’re sure we’ll have more coming our way.
“We just don’t want anyone to be forgotten about.”
