Originally published Sunday, November 2, 2014 at 7:27 AM
Chiaki Kawajiri / The Baltimore Sun
BALTIMORE - As a young girl, Downing Jett Kay danced to music played on a Victrola and watched Model T's drive through the streets of Baltimore. She wore her hair in a flapper's bob as a member of Forest Park High School's Class of 1926, conducted interviews during the Depression for the Gallup Poll and listened to President Franklin D. Roosevelt's fireside chats on the radio.
Kay, who is to turn 107 next month, attributes her longevity to two factors: drinking lots of coffee and maintaining strong social ties.
'I'm always interested in other people,' she said. 'I think that makes a difference.'
Kay joined nine fellow centenarian residents of Pickersgill Retirement Community in Towson for a celebration recently. The group has collectively born witness to more than 1,000 years of life.
Some relied on wheelchairs or walkers, but several walked without assistance. They rested gnarled hands on the arms of friends and staffers, savored crustless sandwiches and lemon bars, and regaled visitors with memories of dancing with the Rockettes and caring for scarlet-fever patients.
'These people have lived through experiences and events most people have only read or learned about in school,' said Jean Lillquist, a member of the Pickersgill board of directors, which organized the party. Board members mingled with the residents, bringing them cups of tea and punch.
Waldron Sennott, 105, spoke of the pleasures of growing up in a small village in Vermont in the 1910s.
'We roamed around a lot. We went fishing in brooks and ponds and skated on the ponds in the winter,' he said.
When he was a college student, Sennott spent his summers working at a camp. There he met his now-104-year-old wife, Adelaide, some 80 summers ago.
'I was fortunate to work in the summer camp year after year. I saw a lot of girls,' said Waldron, a retired radiologist. 'Addie was the prettiest. She had very pretty auburn hair.'
Her hair now a cloud of white curls, Addie Sennott laughed, blue eyes beaming behind wire-rimmed glasses.
The couple celebrated their 76th anniversary this summer, which means their marriage is rapidly approaching the average life span for men in this country, 77.4 years.
Addie said the secret to a long marriage is to keep finding new things to learn about the other person.
'You have to still be interested in each other,' she said.
Her husband put it this way: 'We like one another.'
The couple believes good genes are largely responsible for their long lives. Waldron added that he had always gotten a lot of exercise and avoided heavy drinking.
'I didn't party an awful lot,' he said. 'I drank very little, even in college.'
All of the centenarians at the recent gathering remain as active as possible. Ruth Gore, who was to turn 100 shortly, keeps in touch with neighbors from the Anneslie home where she lived for 71 years. Mae Adams, 102, makes a daily round of visits at the retirement community, checking in on friends and favorite staffers.
Emma Lou Taylor plays bridge with a group of friends who come to visit her at Pickersgill. And each Tuesday, she joins other Pickersgill residents for cocktails and live music.
'I don't feel old at all,' said Taylor, who, at 101, does not wear glasses and takes hardly any medications. 'As long as I can yak and laugh, I'm happy.'
Taylor recalled sneaking into a New York speak-easy with her brothers during Prohibition. They hoisted her up to a bathroom window, she jumped through a transom and then let them in through a back door.
At 17, the Connecticut native joined the Rockettes.
'I had beautiful red-blonde hair in those days and the perfect figure,' said Taylor, demonstrating a kick for her daughter-in-law, Vallie Larson, who accompanied her to the event.
Kay, at 106, is Pickersgill's oldest resident.
At the gathering, she looked elegant in a ruffled green jacket, her nails a shiny shade of coral as she greeted visitors Thursdays. As she walked up to cut a birthday cake for the centenarians, it was hard to believe she was nearly blind and hard of hearing.
Her granddaughter, Jenna Grifo, said that Kay makes a round of calls to her relatives each evening.
'She touches base with everyone on the phone,' said Grifo, who escorted her grandmother to the event. 'Just checking in, keeping up with everything.'
'I have wonderful friends and a wonderful granddaughter,' said Kay. 'I am very blessed.'
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