Moncton High School Christmas card turns into 62-year-old Christmas tradition

It began as a prank between two high school friends. 

Sixty-two years later, it represents a lifetime of loyal friendship. 

In 1961, Gary Gallant mailed a Christmas card to his Moncton High School classmate Lee VanBuskirk. 

When VanBuskirk received the card, he noticed the post office had not stamped it. So, he tucked it away. The following year, he signed it, "Lee 1962," and mailed it back.

"Of course, he had to send it back to me," recalled Gallant. "I kept it, and then I suspect one day close to Christmas, I thought, 'hmmm, I'm just going to send it back to him,' and that's how it started." 

Today, the two men marvel at how they've actually been able to keep the card going, especially since it started out as a prank. 

"We were always joking, and that was our relationship to do something like that," added VanBuskirk.

Fast forward to 2023, and at VanBuskirk's home in Lakeville, the two men are visiting for the holidays. Gallant and his wife Geri made the trip from Saint John with the Christmas card in tow. 

"We changed it to where we actually hand deliver it now," says Gallant. "We don't trust mailing it and we don't want to lose it. That's where we are now." 

The card has travelled longer distances than between Lakeville and Saint John. Over the years, the Gallants lived in Montreal, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. Despite this, VanBuskirk and Gallant have never missed passing the card back and forth. 

More than a card

Both men admit that over the years the card has come to mean so much more to them. It represents the lifetime of friendship they've shared — from high school days to marriages, the birth of children, and now enjoying their retirement years. 

"In high school, we were inseparable. Every Friday night, we'd take his father's car out, put two dollars worth of gas in it, and we'd be drivin' around chasing women," laughed VanBuskirk. 

"We lived very close to each other, we could actually walk to each other's house. We were really close all the time," said Gallant.

With 62 years worth of signatures inscribed, the card is beginning to show its age. The paper has wrinkled and yellowed, and there is little room left to write. But neither man is too concerned. Their high school Christmas card is crafted from a single piece of paper that is folded in four. They plan to open it up to start a new row of signatures. 

"Both sides of the inside of the card are full of dates and names," said VanBuskirk. "Now you're going to have to open it up inside the card, to see where the dates are and whose name is on it."