Blue Ridge Foothills & Lakes Virginia Master Naturalists: The Tsar of BRFAL

The Blue Ridge Foothills and Lakes Chapter (BRFAL) of the Virginia Master Naturalists is extremely lucky to have our own Tsar. Who is it and how can it be? He is Guy Bufford and he is 87 years old and still an active and certified Virginia Master Naturalist. I believe he may be the oldest VMN in the state. If you know differently, please let us know.

So how did Guy become our Tsar? Jean Borgman, who is one of our early BRFAL members, recounts the story as follows:

“One of the things I remember is from when the chapter was forming. The Local Coordinating Committee (that's what you’re called when you start a chapter) had many meetings and tasks to perform. Guy became our leader in the process. He was wonderful at leading the numerous discussions and keeping us on task. As the time came for us to move on to chapter status we were coming up with people to fill the positions in the new group. Guy said we should find a president when Carl said we weren't going to let Guy leave and that he would be "Tsar for life". In fact the group unanimously approved Guy as Tsar and as you know he did become our first president.”

Over his years as BRFAL member Guy has accumulated nearly 1400 project hours and almost 200 advanced training hours. In 2017 he has over 55 project hours and 9 advanced training hours. Not bad for someone 87 years young.

My favorite anecdote about Guy is way back when he was only 83 or so. The BRFAL group went on a hike at the DeHart Botanical Gardens. Don’t let the name botanical garden fool you. This is a beautiful but rugged setting that starts at the top. Then you hike down, down, down to a waterfall and then back up, up, up. Near the bottom I could tell that Guy was getting a little wobbly, so we stopped for some electrolytes and a short break. Guy was carrying a small backpack and since I only had a fanny pack, I offered to carry Guy’s pack for the journey upward, which I did. The hike upward seemed never ending, but Guy never missed a beat on the way up. I was then known as Guys porter! My wife Meg remembers that she was ready to drop in her tracks on the hike but was too embarrassed to do so since Guy could keep going.

Although Guy recently lost his wonderful wife Margaret, he remains active with us, attending meetings and doing project work. I am attaching some pictures of Guy for you to enjoy. Guy is truly an inspiration to us all and remains as our BRFAL Tsar.

Rich Brager