Retired Parliamentarian Reginald (Reggie) Burrows was in great shape Tuesday receiving a seemingly endless stream of politicians and leaders from the church, sports and business spectrum joining in celebrating his 80th birthday and wishing him many happy returns of the day.

They were affirming in one way or another their admiration and respect for a man who has spent some 40 years amassing a tremendous record of public service.

Reggie personifies all that is inherent in the adage that ‘still waters run deep’. He and his running mate Mr Stanley Lowe have been ‘solid ‘backbone, history-making leaders, putting their Progressive Labour Party in unassailable positions over the decades.

Mr Burrows has held important positions in successive PLP Shadow Cabinets. He has represented Bermuda at Parliamentary Conferences in Malaysia, the West Indies, Canada and Cyprus. He has been chairman of the Bermuda Immigration Board; Member of the Defence Exemption Tribunal; a member of the Hamilton Rotary Club; Riddell’s Bay Golf Club.

An avid sports enthusiast, he is a former President of Southampton Rangers Sports Club. After serving for 20 consecutive years in that position, he was made an Honorary Life President of the club. And on another front, as a former Vice Chairman of the Bermuda Football Association (BFA), Reggie led their delegation to an international conference in Honduras in 1967.

His international role was enhanced when he was selected as a recipient in 1992 of the National Distinguished Alumni ‘Citation of the Year Award’ by Wilberforce University at a ceremony held in Washington, DC. Mr Burrows was selected from a field of one million graduates from historically Black Colleges and Universities in the US.

On the local front, Reggie and his wife Sheila were the key persons behind the restoration by the PLP of Alaska Hall, its headquarters building in Court Street. In short, they put up the finance that was required.

Mr Burrows was educated at Southampton East Primary School, now Heron Bay Primary School, the Berkeley Institute and together with his longtime running mate, Mr Lowe, attended Wilberforce University in Ohio, earning a BSc degree.

Calmly seated in his living room, Mr. Burrows is seen above with some of his well wishers. They included retired MPs Ottiwell Simmons, Cal Smith, John Barritt; former Premier Alex Scott; also House Speaker Randy Horton, and friends Carlton Lambert. Ramon. Cyril and Ralph Derosa.

CAPTION 2 ... Mrs. Sheila (Burch) Burrows is on the right above with her husband Reggie on his Big 80 Birthday reception Also above is daughter Tracey Moore, one of the couple’s four children; cousins Dawn Simmons, Marion Dolden and friend Vera Commissiong.--photos by Ira Philip