Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
County officials honor centenarians
30 county residents attend sixth annual Centenarian Birthday Party
THORNBURY TOWNSHIP » Joseph Dugan may not be able to remember it, but he was alive when women did not have the right to vote, drinking was outlawed, the National Football League was not established and Buffalo Bill Cody was still alive. By the time he was 10, Oklahoma had only been a state for nine years.
Dugan and 29 other centenarians were honored Tuesday as the Chester County Department of Aging Services hosted its sixth annual Centenarian Birthday Party at the Penn Oaks Country Club.
When most of them were born, the average yearly wage was $720, bread cost 7 cents, a stamp was 2 cents, and a nice house could be purchased for $3,200. And many attending the event – all of whom survived the Great Depression of the late 1920s and early 1930s when the unemployment rate topped 25 percent – still have sharp memories.
“I learned to sing in the Depression,” said Dugan, 101. “I was a cellar door dancer. We would go sing and dance on people’s cellar doors for pennies. I feel fortunate to have experienced the Depression, it taught me a lot.”
Catherine McMullen, 105, a lifelong resident of Chester County
“I was a cellar door dancer. We would go sing and dance on people’s cellar doors for pennies. I feel fortunate to have experienced the Depression, it taught me a lot.” — Joseph Dugan
who has come to the celebration the past several years said she anticipates the event.
“It is very thoughtful that they hold an event like this,” she said. “There are not many events for people our age. I was born in the horse-and-buggy days, the old railroad days. There were grist mills, and everyone grew their own food. There was no pre-packaged food, everything was from scratch.”
For Luda Pearl Baker, 105, it was her first time attending the event.
“This is my first time here, and it is so wonderful and so pretty,” she said. “I am really enjoying the people.”
“What I like best about being over 100 is that you don’t have to do anything. I like to read and I like to play bingo. I have 31 greatgrandchildren to visit with. I have a lot to live for.” — Caroline Young
Margaret Chalfant,, who recently celebrated her 105th birthday, said she has had a good life.
“I have done most of the things I wanted to do, so I am very happy,” she said.
Caroline Young, said getting old has its advantages.
“What I like best about being over 100 is that you don’t have to do anything,” she said. “I like to read and I like to play bingo. I have 31 great-grandchildren to visit with. I have a lot to live for.”
Every centenarian received a citation from county Commissioners Michelle Kichline and Terence Farrell, and was treated to lunch.
Sandy Murphy, director of Chester County Aging Services, said that the event has grown every year, and hopes that it will continue to grow in the future.
“Last year we had 21, this year we have 30, but there are over 100 individuals who are 100 years and older living in Chester County, and we would like to get all of them here,” Murphy said.
“Chester County is the healthiest county in the commonwealth,” Kichline said.