GARY PIPHER SPEAKS: Our 2nd Shuffler Was Not on the World Stage So To Speak, but as you will see when you click on the first pdf file, he was “on stage” in Woodbrook Estates!! FL. His Name: Peter Van Buren. On 2018 03 21, Peter will celebrate his 98th Birthday!! Gary Pipher Speaks: This picture of Peter on the ladder was his last Christmas in Woodbrook before he sold his house (just look at him up the ladder hanging his lights.). He always decorated his house with colored lights for the seasons, and at one time, he and Dr. Jack Hopps ( the Canadian inventor of the Pace Maker ), Peter’s best friend and neighbor for over 25 years, decorated the lamp posts and front gates to the Woodbrook Park.
I am now going to give you access to an article I wrote in 2015. Peter VanBuren celebrated his 95th Birthday to Peter has now stopped coming to FL (as of last year) but Gary Pipher, who maintains contact with Peter, said this in an e-mail of March 20th, 2018: Yes Peter is still very alive. We spoke with him last week and he sounds just like Peter from years ago. His activities have been somewhat less than while in Woodbrook over the winter . He said he does a lot of reading and lots and lots of crossword puzzles and of course both these activities keep his mind sharp and alert. He still pushes a lawnmower and cuts grass during the summer and of course he shoveled snow many times this winter.
Barb and I have planned to go down to Turkey Point and take him out for dinner .
He misses Florida but is so grateful that he enjoyed over 45 years of winters there . He is a remarkable man.
Before signing off, I would like to send Birthday Greetings to Peter from All Shufflers, but a special Greeting from his long time friend Wilma McLung of Woodbrook Estates.
Stan McCormack. 2018 03 21.
Barb and I called Peter this morning, March 21 2021 to wish him a happy 101 birthday . “He is a remarkable individual” . We spoke on the phone for about 15 minutes or so and he was extremely alert at all times and said he was still enjoying good health. He was very clear speaking on the phone and although its possible he was wearing hearing aids he understood everything we were saying. He said he recieved his first shot for Covid a few weeks ago but admits he made a mistake while at the hospital and got into the wrong bloody line up. He was apparently in the lineup for testing and not the line up for the Covid virus needle. They made him get into another long line that once again formed outside the building. He never complained about it to me but just chalked it up to his own stupidity. That sounds like Peter and never one to complain about anything or anyone.
He lives at his daughter’s place for the winter months now and has been since leaving Florida a couple of years ago and he was not quite sure when and if he could go to his summer house in the park located in Turkey Point Ontario this year. He said he spends a lot of his time doing cross word puzzles and of course watching his favorite shows on TV. Peter is such a remarkable man with a positive outlook on life and we can only hope he is with us to enjoy and celebrate his 102 .
Gary Pipher.
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Thank You Gary and Barb. Thank You for the original article; thank you for the excellent current article!!!! MUCH APPRECIATED.
Stan
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