Adam Prudhomme
Editor
On May 29, 1919, Charles Strite filed a patent for the automatic pop-up toaster-a full month after Margaret Rivers was born.
Odds are that first toaster has long since broken down. Rivers on the other hand-though she may be older than toast-is still going strong ahead of her 105th birthday on April 28.
As has become tradition since her centenarian birthday, Rivers met with the Beaver in her Napanee home to celebrate the occasion.
“I’m fine for the shape I’m in,” said Rivers, who continues to live independently, keeping herself busy with a handful of arts and crafts. “I want to go back to do a little painting. I like to do that out on the sun porch and then I can leave it all out there. Some days it’s really nice and warmer out there than in the house. I have been doing a lot of writing. I do little stories of my life and I have a nephew, his daughter, she wants me to write some of these stories and get me to publish them.”
One could only imagine the subjects those stories would cover, having lived through ten and a half decades.
Though doing much better now, last year wasn’t without its challenges. In May of last year she suffered a nasty fall which resulted in a broken arm. She had ventured out to her garden with the intent of picking some asparagus when she fell.
“I managed to get up, don’t know how I did it. I think the angels must have picked me up,” she recalled. “I walked all the way around here. The blood was down all over my eyes, I was a mess. I couldn’t move the arm and I couldn’t get this leg to move. I don’t know how I did it, but it was will power.”
Fortunately her Life Alert activated and her son Michael, who lives across the street, was able to help get her into an ambulance. What followed was a lengthy rehab in Kingston. It was a long recovery, but she’s now back to crafting.
“If you don’t do something you just sort of wither away,” said Rivers. “I’m very active, I always want to be doing things.”
Always willing to try out a new hobby, she’s recently taken up stitching quilts.
Crafting has long been a passion. During WWII she put her skills to use by stitching uniforms for Canadian soldiers.
Shortly after the second World War wrapped up, she moved to the town she’s called home ever since.
“I like Napanee. It’s a lot bigger now,” said Rivers, who first arrived in Napanee on April 1, 1946. “When I first came here you almost knew everybody and I was teaching crafts and they’d get me to go from one church to another church. This and that. Then I’d talk for the town hall. When Lenadco opened I was there from the beginning until I retired and I’m still making crafts.”
“When I first came here we had no hospital,” she added. “When Michael was born the doctor took me to Kingston in his car. I had to go in 10 days before he was born because I couldn’t even drink water.”
Much like her most recent fall, her never-give-up attitude served her well back then and she delivered a healthy son.
With warm weather on the horizon she says she’s looking forward enjoying the sun on her outdoor swing.
For her birthday this year she has just one wish.
“When you get to be 105 you shouldn’t have to pay taxes,” she said. “I think I’ve paid enough taxes. I think that should be a gift from the government.”