Kevin Gelding stood patiently at the front of a packed meeting room at the Pine Bungalows clutching a Sharpie and a copy of Ben Gadd鈥檚 ubiquitous Handbook of the Canadian Rockies.
鈥淚 hope so,鈥� Jasper National Park鈥檚 volunteer coordinator replied when asked if he was waiting for an autograph from the guide of all guides.
Dozens of locals turned out to celebrate Gadd鈥檚 retirement on May 25. Parties were also thrown in Calgary, Banff and Canmore, where Gadd lives, but he might have been most impressed by the turnout here.
鈥淚鈥檓 delighted that Jasper turned out,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou know the tourists aren鈥檛 here tonight - these are locals. To see them all turn out for the Interpretive Guides Association鈥檚 meeting, especially one for somebody out cast in 2009, they remember.鈥�
His 831-page field manual, published first in 1989 and reprinted with updated data most recently in 2016, is described by Interpretation Canada as the first and last book on the Rockies enthusiasts need shell out for.
Gadd spent 29 years living in Jasper, raising both of his children here.
鈥淚n the second year I was here I started with Parks Canada as a naturalist, that鈥檚 what they were called back in the early 1980s,鈥� Gadd recalled. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 where my whole interest in telling other people about the Rockies got started was being a park interpreter, at Whistlers campground theatre, and taking (visitors) for hikes and all that.鈥�
He said some of the people who turned out for his Jasper retirement party taught him the things about wildflowers and birds that he 鈥渉ad to learn鈥� to do his job.
鈥淛asper really has a special place in my heart.鈥�
Gadd was presented with the inaugural lifetime achievement award by the IGA鈥檚 Canmore-based executive director, Tracey Gage, for setting the highest standard for and advancing the fields of interpretation and educational guiding. She called him the 鈥渂est of the best.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檝e been teaching interpretation in the Canadian Rockies for about 12 years now (and) Ben has joined me on several of my tours over the years,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 felt very lucky. On every one of those tours, guests have said Ben was the most memorable part of their seven-day journey across Canada.鈥�
Special tours for IGA members were routinely sold out with more people on wait lists than attending.
鈥淭hose that got in always contacted us immediately afterward to find out when they could book back in,鈥� Gage said.
The lifetime achievement award, a striking piece of art itself, came with a Tony Klettl carving and Gadd鈥檚 own personalized Zeke cartoon. It was engraved with a Gadd quote that she shares with every new IGA interpreter.
鈥淚f 聽I鈥檓 a good interpreter, the people who accompany me will have their hearts and minds open to the place I take them.鈥�
Gadd is currently focused on finishing his 700-page memoir, which he said is interspersed with passages of his writings to make it more readable. He hopes to release it later this month.
鈥淎 straight memoir is a drag after awhile,鈥� he said. 鈥淢y goal was to break that up with magazine articles and bits from books. I wanted it to be fun to read, as well.鈥�
His wife Cia came up with the catchy title.
鈥淪he came up with An Orogenous Life, Memoir and Reader,鈥� he said through what might be the most recognizable grin in the Rockies. 鈥淥rogenic of course means of or having to do with mountains, but we think we鈥檒l sell more copies that way.鈥�
Craig Gilbert | [email protected]
