Annie celebrates a special birthday
100th birthday party then a game of bingo
A Castle milk woman celebrated her 100th birthday in style recently, with a party thrown for her at Croftfoot United Free Church.
Annie McIlwraith marked the occasion surrounded by family and friends - and she even got to enjoy a game of her beloved bingo.
She was joined by daughter Margaret, and son John on the day.
John still lives locally while Margaret now resides in California, but made sure she was over in Scotland for her mum’s big day.
Annie was a mum of four, although sadly two of her children have since passed away.
She has eight grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren, and still lives at home with support from care service Cordia.
Daughter Margaret said: “It was great, there were about 60 people there, all family and friends and she had a great time.
“She’s still very coherent and alert – she played bingo on Rutherglen Main Street for years and years, up until about two years ago.
“That was her time with her friends there, where she’d go for the social side of things .
“She loved to do that, more to be with friends than anything else.”
Annie used to work as a french polisher before focusing on raising her family along with her husband Matthew, who she was married to for over 50 years.
Originally from Govan, she moved to Castlemilk in 1957. A keen traveller, she travelled all over the world.
Margaret added: “She’s been to America many times. She always jokes that when she first went to Las Vegas it was still a village, before all the hotels came up in the 1960s.
“She’s been to places like Disneyworld and SeaWorld there, and she went to all sorts of places – she’s been to New Zealand, and Paris and California.
“She laughs at the fact I’m retired – she says she must be getting old when she’s got a daughter who’s retired too.”
Margaret paid tribute to those at Croftfoot United Free Church who organised the day.
“We’d love to thank Marion Milligan and Ann Deacons as they were a great help. They took care of serving tea and cake, and organised a bingo game in the afternoon, which was wonderful.
“They were incredibly kind to me, my daughter and my mum especially.
“There were some lovely people in the congregation too, who helped out – they were great and I’d like to thank them too.”
She jokes that when she first went to Las Vegas it was still a village