Culture

Some Good News, 105-Year-Old Woman Celebrates First Birthday Party, Receives 1,200+ Cards

Published on 10 months ago

A special woman just celebrated her first birthday party ever, at age 105, and it turned out just perfect.

Line dancers and square dancers performed routines to entertain her, 12-year-old Lily brought her 10-week-old yellow Labrador named Nina for her to pet and she even got the chance to meet a miniature pony named Daniel Jackson.

Cherryville Mayor H.L Beam was on hand to wish her happy birthday as was Gaston County Commissioner Allen Fraley. Gov. Roy Cooper declared her actual birthday, Nov. 23, as “Lorene Summey Day” in Gaston County. Beam called the Cherryville native the oldest person living in either Gaston or Lincoln counties and the oldest member of the First Baptist Church of Cherryville.

Lorene Summey is a resident at Somerset Court, an assisted living facility in Cherryville, North Carolina.

Two months ago, a staff member asked Summey what she would like for her upcoming birthday in November.

“We have a resident that has a birthday in November and she will be 105 years old! Yes, you read that right 105 years old. She has never had a big birthday party before, so I asked her several months ago what would she like to do for her birthday. She said I would love to have square dancing at her birthday party,” Jodie Lankford wrote in a Facebook post.

“She said her sister could always go but she had to stay home most of the time to take care of the younger ones. She wants to have her hair and makeup done and would love to wear the dress like they wore.”

“She also doesn’t think She could have 105 birthday cards sent by mail to her for her birthday! I’ve told her that we will have that plus more,” Lankford added.

Members of the Cherryville Police Department and town firefighters escorted her into her party.

“I can’t believe it,” Summey told the Gaston Gazette. “It’s so unreal.”

She did not receive only 150 birthday cards, but instead much more than 1,200 cards from people all over the country poured in.

There’s at least one card from every U.S. state plus cards have arrived from as far away as England.