Mentoria Russell of rural Vallonia celebrated her 100th birthday on Sunday, June 29, with a large open house gathering of family & friends at the Joe Jackson Hotel in Vallonia.
“The people, they just kept a coming all afternoon,” she said. “Some folks I hadn’t seen in years.”
She was born June 29, 1925 in Vallonia and lived in the Starve Hollow area of Driftwood Township until she was 10-years-old when the state purchased multiple farms to develop the Starve Hollow Lake.
After moving around during her life she now resides not far from her original family farm and close to her family.
“How I got to be this old, I don’t know,” she said with a chuckle. “I suppose it was growing up on a farm, growing our own food and canning vegetables. Today’s people don’t eat the healthy food we grew on the farm.”
“I had a happy childhood. We were typical farm kids who made our own fun and helped out on the farm where we could,” she said.
She still lives independently but is glad to have family members living nearby.
She remains healthy and mentally alert and attends Tampico Christian Church as often as she can.Another milestone is that she is not only a longtime subscriber to the Crothersville Times but now is the Times’ oldest reader.