Centenarians Share Happy Memories at Annual Lely Palms Event

Seven centenarians credited being nice, staying true to your religion, practicing the Golden Rule, patience, being happy and enjoying every day, and being kind to one another as verities they’ve lived their lives by. They were honored Thursday afternoon, October 6th, during Lely Palms' annual Senior Centurion 100 Event, held in the dining room of the retirement community.

The mood was upbeat as honorees, fellow residents, and family members enjoyed a deliciously prepared chicken dinner, before enjoying a champagne toast to those residents who are approaching 100 or have already joined the Centurion Club at Lely Palms.

Senior care advisor, Denise Bolton, got the fun started by sharing events and names of famous people from the 1920s, when the honorees were born. Bolton’s mention of each event or movie star’s name from the era brought a happy murmur through the crowd.

“Remember Walter Matthau and Tony Randall, the Odd Couple,” Bolton asks the crowd. "They were born in the 1920s. And Mickey Rooney. And the newsman, David Brinkley. And of course our seven lovely Lely Palms residents were all born in the 1920s - and aren’t they famous!”

Bolton and fellow senior care advisor, Renee Smith-Gonzales, took turns honoring the seven residents, much to the delight of the crowd. The advisors’ unabashed fondness for the residents made the presentation special.

Yolanda Tenaglio, 99, was described as “gracious, generous, and a pleasure to be with.” Mary Thompson, 104, was described as “calm, patient, warm, and loving. Never a bad word comes from dear sweet Mary.”

It was Thompson’s fourth time at the table of honor for a Centurion Celebration at Lely Palms.

Thompson advises today’s younger generation to “be wise and make good choices.” She also said to be patient, because “everyone has different ideas.”

The only man honored was Glen “Speedy” Nelson, a WWII veteran and former tournament champion in shuffleboard. Nelson said if he could go back in time, he would return to 1947, “and marry Geneva again.” Nelson said the person who most influenced his life was his high school math teacher.

Margie Doyle will turn 100 in December and said if she could go back in time, it would be to when she was 65 years old. “We bought a travel trailer and came to Venice, Florida to visit my parents,” Doyle said. “Then we traveled around Florida in the winter and in Chautauqua, NY in the summer.”

Nancy Schumacher, 101, married her husband after a two-week courtship. She said her husband Franklin was the person who most influenced her in her lifetime.

Virginia Siemanowski, 101, considers the television and the computer as the biggest inventions of her life. She reminds everyone that “family is so important.”

Velma Huson, 99, was unable to attend the event because she is currently in the hospital. She had a most unusual way of meeting her future husband. It seems he accidentally hit her with a basketball during a basketball game. He apologized to her at a restaurant where they were both having dinner. They later married and had two children.

A favorite memory of Yolanda Tenaglio was when she took her first airplane ride at age 79. She “loved every minute of it.”