Legacy Gary Member Stories – St. Maries Lavender Harvest
Since Gary Young’s passing, we have put a lot of thought into how to continue the D. Gary Young blog. We wanted to foster a stalwart commitment to Gary’s legacy, so we asked members to think of a fond memory of their time working with him on projects, on travels, at one of the farms, or in another setting, to share those memories with you.
Here’s one such memory from Betty H.:
St. Maries Lavender Harvest
Gary leading a tour of the St. Maries Lavender Farm, 2008.
I have been on only one harvest trip, but it was very memorable to me because of Gary. He was there only one day of our stay and was in the dining hall sitting at a table talking with one of my fellow Lavender Harvest visitors.
Gary, 2008.
I wanted to ask Gary a question, so I walked up to the table but stayed back 3 or 4 feet to wait my turn. Gary saw me but gave the other person all his attention until he was finished.
Just as they were wrapping up their conversation, Mary rushed in and told Gary there was a very important phone call for him. He leaped up from his chair, took one step to follow her out of the room, stopped, and turned toward me and asked, “Did you want to ask me something?”
He was willing to make a “very important phone call” wait while he answered my question! I told him I would talk to him later, and he smiled his thanks and rushed out of the room. It must have been a VERY important call because they left immediately after that. I never got to ask him my question (I don’t even remember what it was), but I’ll always remember that he thought I was important enough to cause the important caller to wait.
Betty H.
