Family, friends throw drive-by parade for Richmond senior’s milestone birthday

Ken Yoshihara’s family wasn’t about to let a pandemic stop them from celebrating a birthday milestone.

Ken’s daughter, Karen Schindel, said that she and her mother, Hiroko Yoshihara, organized a surprise parade — what turned out to be a cavalcade of about 50 cars filled with friends and family — Saturday to celebrate her father’s 80th.

“He deserved to be treated like a king for a day,” said Schindel.

Both Ken and Hiroko are active members of the Steveston Buddhist Temple, said Schindel. Her father, who grew up in Richmond, was a “talented gymnast” at Richmond secondary. Ken also has a passion for hockey, said Schindel, and was playing twice a week with the Richmond Ojisans before things came to a halt due to COVID-19.

Schindel said her mother Hiroko helped her get in touch with the temple’s reverend and Ken’s cousin — the two play on the same hockey team — to organize the surprise.

“I made a Facebook group, talked to my parents’ neighbours to let a few of them know, made phone calls…it was pretty busy,” said Karen.

“I rented (a) red carpet, balloons, and baked and decorated over 90 cookies for a token of thanks — (I wore) my gloves when making the cookies.”

Schindel said she managed to keep the surprise from her dad by telling a “white lie,” explaining that she told her father that he needed to stay downstairs because her daughters — Ken’s granddaughters — were planning something for him. 

But instead, about 50 cars lined the block, honking horns and playing music, all to wish Ken a happy 80th, causing “quite the scene with neighbours,” said Schindel.

Many of Ken’s teammates arrived with hockey jerseys and sticks attached to their vehicles, and Ken himself wore a crown and held a golden hockey stick, waving as friends and family drove by.

“It was very heartwarming to see the joy on his face and hear him laughing with friends and family,” said Schindel, adding that it was “so touching” to see everyone get together for her dad.

“I believe that it was a testament to how they feel about him. I also think it was so nice to see people meet and greet each other, that they haven’t seen in a very long time due to COVID-19.

“I had so many emails, texts and phones calls (from people) to say how happy my dad looked, and that they were so glad to be a part of something so positive," she said.  “With everything going in the world today, I wasn’t going to let it ‘rain on his parade.’”