To the editor, 

I attended the get together at The Office on Saturday night last August 17 for the benefit of Johnnie Pahl who is having a tough time with late stage pancreatic cancer.  Johnnie鈥檚 friends and family from far and wide were all there wall to wall on a sweltering summer night.

I sat in the corner with true friends when suddenly a wave of comfort and pride in what I felt and the event I was witnessing, overtook my senses and I smiled at the love Johnnie was getting back in return for all the joy and love that he gives us all the time.

There were musicians, loggers, ranchers, fellow ferry comrades, captains, outlaws, haywires, business folks, community leaders, cousins, nieces, nephews, neighbours and just pure admirers of Johnnie Pahl just to name a few.  All came to celebrate our good fortune to have had run across Johnnie, one way or another.

Johnnie sat on stage, his guitar in his gifted hands and as we were hoping suddenly blasted a sultry E chord and kicked off  鈥淔olsom Prison Blues鈥�.  From there, Johnnie took us on a magical journey, backward and forward, in and out of our love for his rhythm, style and smile and it was all there to take home as a souvenir of a perfect place and time 鈥� last Saturday night at The Office.

Thank you Johnnie for the spirit you always toss around like a breeze of dandelion puffs, soft and gentle and you can鈥檛 get rid of 鈥榚m even if you try to blow them away, because just like Johnnie, they always come back.  He鈥檚 with us then, he鈥檚 with us now, Johnnie Pahl will always be with us, one way or another.

- Mike Robertson