***Centenarians In The News

What does every golfer want? A hole in one. 102-year-old Elsie McLean got one on a 96 yard par three. See article and video of interview with her.

At 99, retired brick layer Richard Hubbard loved bowling but found his game was deteriorating. That prompted him to see a doctor who diagnosed calcified heart valves. He had heart surgery at 100 and is eager to get back to bowling.

At 104, Phillip Rabinowitz set a new seniors 100 yard dash record at 30.86 seconds. While this is far short of the any age world record at 9.74seconds, I doubt if many teenagers could keep up with him. A few months later Mr. Rabinowitz died from a stroke in February 2008. He is a great example of what I call an "Energizer Bunny and alkaline batteries." While regular batteries gradually wear out, alkaline batteries give a steady energy level, last a lot longer, and die quickly.

The Pekin Times reports that a Havana, Illinois church now has a centenarian club for member 100+ years old. It currently has two members and another due to join in July 2008.

With elections in the news, articles on centenarians keep popping up. For example, 106-year-old Anna French couldn't vote when she was 18. She had to wait for the 19th Constitutional amendment to give American women the right to vote in 1920. Regarding Hillary Clinton she said, "If a woman is smart enough to put herself in that position, she's smart enough to get my vote."

Just for fun, there is the story of how Girl Scout cookies saved a centenarian's life. Ten years ago, Rebecca Preston's daughter bought a box of Thin Mints cookies for her mother but kept forgetting to deliver them. So they sat in the freezer for ten years. She asked a friend to deliver them and when Mrs. Preston did not answer the door, he investigated and found her so ill she could not even get to the phone. He called an ambulance and now 104-year-old Mrs. Preston is healthy again—and credits a box of Thin Mints cookies.