Charlotte cherishes her nine decades
Advance Correspondent The N9OMs era was dubbed with such monikers as the gazz Age with greats Louis ArmstrongI Duke Ellington and deorge dershwinI Cole morter and others; the Age of Intolerance and the Age of Wonderful konsenseK This era embodied the beginning of modern America and welcomed Charlotte pwift Landreth- Melville who is determined to travel itK
Walt Disney produced his fiUVW FDUWRRn, “AOLFH’V WRnGHUODnG” DnG “WUDvHOFhDU” EHJDn hHU fiUVW VWHSV WRwDUG making the world her own wonderlandK
Charlotte is a graduate of The Agnes Irwin pchoolI founded by the great-greatgranddaughter of Benjamin FranklinI and the mhiladelShLD 6FhRRO RI 2IfiFH 7UDLningK
phe continues to trek around the worldI one country at a time!
Charlotte is the last surviving member of the Landreth family still living in Bristol who owned The DK Landreth 6HHG &RPSDny, WhH fiIWh ROGest corporation in AmericaK In NTU4I Englishman David Landreth came to mhiladelphia to found Landreth kursery C peed dardensK ee purchased a plot in what was then still countryI building a family farmhouse and a seed house overlooking the farmlands that extended to the pchuylkillK
When Landreth moved his company to Bristol in NU4TI he sold his property in the moint Breeze neighborhood to the city for use as a public elementary schoolhouseK In NUS4I the David Landreth Elementary pchool burned to the ground and it was rebuilt in NUU9 as a two-storyI threebayI brick building with a stone foundation in the dothic Revival-styleK
The Old City pchool now has a new mission- providing apartments for seniors and is now called The LandrethK Many tenants take pride in the fact that their building was the elementary school where gohn Wanamaker learned the WhUHH R’V RvHU 150 yHDUV DJR.
It was added to the kational Register of eistoric mlaces in N9USK
&hDUORWWH’V SDUHnWV, )ORUence xpwiftz and David Landreth sI the youngest son of CaptK Burnet LandrethI had four children including CharlotteI her late sistersI Meta Florence Landreth Doak and Emily Mostyn LandrethI and her brotherI David Landreth sI who died at the age of NPK eer parents owned a Roadmaster BuickK
The family once resided in a home where ptK Mark Elementary pchool now standsK Burgess Clifford LK AndersonI president of the Bristol matent Leather Company and the Bristol Trust Company BankI was their neighborI living next to them at NMMO Radcliffe ptreetK
BloomsdaleI the Landreth family homeI had one of the most amazing collections of trees in the rnited ptatesK At one timeI there were over NIOMM species of deciduous EmapleI birchesF and evergreen treesI some of which are still livingK The seed farm in Bristol Township contained several mansions in which family members livedI occupies the section along dreen Lane and Radcliffe ptreets known as Landreth ManorK
Many know Charlotte for hHU “wRUOG WUDvHO” H[SHULHnFHV DnG VRPH RI BULVWRO’V VHDsoned citizens recall the Landreth Baseball FieldI located where the present mennco Tech pchool stands on OtWHU 6WUHHW. &hDUORWWH’V IDWhHU was an avid baseball fan and promoter and there are cherished old photographs of David Landreth sitting with the baseball teams he sponsoredK
&SO. &hDUORWWH’V RULJLnDO forest-green serge Marine uniform along with her capI and the picture taken the day she was discharged from Camp LejeuneI kKCKI on 1RvHPEHU 1945 wDV Rn GLVplay for eistoric Bristol Day OMNMK phe served proudly with distinction and honor from December N94P to kovHPEHU 1945.
By WhH wDy, VhH FDn VWLOO fiW in her original uniform and is an active member of The Women Marines Association EWMAF and has been honored several times as the oldest Marine present at the rp Marine Corps BallI once in Beijing China in OMMTK
In N9NTI the WK Averell earriman once resided in the three-story white Landreth home in Bristol TownshipK Charlotte found a medicine bottle with a prescription written by a DrK Lyle to the Boeddikker mharmacy in kew YRUN wLWh HDUULPDn’V nDPH on itK phe communicated with dovernor earriman and received a return letter typed on Department of ptate stationery dated ganuary N9SUK HH FRPPHnWHG, “,W wDV D beautiful home on the water and I hope you are enjoying it as much as I didK I am glad to hear that you bought it backK”
phe met with the diplomatI entrepreneurI politician and philanthropistI in deorgetownI WashingtonI DKCK in N9UN and she proudly owns an autographed hardcover copy of his book that he coauthored with Elie AbelI ppecial Envoy to Churchill and ptalinI N94N-N94SK
To celebrate her 9Mth birthGDy, &hDUORWWH’V GDuJhWHUV, Ann EhusbandI geff works at the EmbassyF and Linda EhusbandI Matt works in kew MexicoF planned a trip to Europe from gune 9 to guly NM and then a party on guly NP when they returned from their trek that included grandsonsI Isaac and EliK
FirstI it was Budapest for a week where a highlight was the RiesenradI the sienna diant Ferris WheelK kext jaunt was to the Croatian Islands in the Adriatic peaI traveling between the Islands by ferryK The main industries on the isODnGV DUH DJULFuOWuUH, fiVhLnJ and tourismK
They carried camping equipment in their Dodge caravan and drove to senice to spend the dayK Can there be a more iconic experience of senice than a ride in a gondola? phe had been to senice beforeI but had never been on a gondolaK
Friends had given Charlotte NMM Euros and they needed UM Euros EapproxiPDWHOy $115) IRU D 37-PLnuWH ULGH Ln WhH flDW-ERWWRPHG ERDW. They shared wine in glass yogurt cups and enjoyed a little slice of heavenK
Charlotte lost her hat and the gondolier gallantly scooped it up for herKA gentleman singing operettas sang an Italian song to her and she EOuVhLnJOy VhDUHG, “HH JDvH me a hug and a kiss when I told him about my birthdayK” mizza for lunch and then they toured a wineryK
The next destination was FlorenceI Italy and they vis-
ited the Tower of misaK The tower was completed in NPTOI almost OMM years after it was begun and it was leaningK
kext stop was mragueI the politicalI economic and cultural center of the Czech RepublicK In LjubljanaI the capital of ploveniaI they stayed in a youth hostelI an accommodation that was previously a real prisonK “They actually still had the bars thereK”
kothing can restrain CharlotteK phe was back home on TuesdayI ready for her party on paturdayK Mid-week day trips prevailed and she took her grandsons and her great-nephew to the kew gersey aquariumK
Friends that she hadn’t seen in quite some time shared in her birthday festivitiesK
Chris BlaydonI the mayor of Langhorne Borough and his wifeI Mary attendedK
mrincipal of games Buchanan pchool EN9SRN9TOF maul goseph McCool brought Charlotte a bouquet of peach colored rosesK ee recalled that Charlotte’s daughters received a tremendous education with their family travelsK “Charlotte is a great ladyI a bottomless pit of valuable informationK phe is an adventuressI a well-traveled lady and she taught them well” ee thoroughly enjoyed the celebrationK “What a great collection of interesting people!”
There was plenty of foodI musicI a champagne toast and mega memories sharedK
Charlotte commentedI “I look forward to my tripsK They keep me goingK”
phe walks two miles every morning and her diet consists of “lots of vegetablesI saladsI salmon and chicken and I take a lot of vitaminsK”
eer favorite reads are biographies and autobiographiesK phe belongs to two book groupsI the Margaret RK drundy Library Book Club and another at her rnitarian ChurchK
A EHVW VHOOHU WKDW VKH MuVW finLVKHG LV “1421: 7KH vear China Discovered AmericaI” authored by davin MenziesI a former British Royal kavy offiFHU.
mlays? “I especially enjoy the musicals at the BRTK”
phe has sailed around pouth AmericaI taken a train across ChinaI stayed in a houseboat in KashmirI IndiaI hitchhiked over Western Europe and drove a jeep across the pahara in the N9RMsI globetrotting the continents and climbing KilimanjaroK
CKDUORWWH VWDUUHG Ln D fiOP FOLS “WKDW HDSSHnHG in Bristol” at about NS years old but she is still at itI sailing to the windsI planning more adventures for her sequel “What happened EsERvWeEREK”
Recommend a “Spotlight.” Email vjmrun@yahoo.com.