LAUREL HILL — McDonald Campbell’s 100th birthday celebration drew more than 100 friends, family and church family members Saturday.
“It’s very, very cool,” said Kyle Powell, 15, an Andalusia, Ala., cousin twice removed. “It’s exciting to have a family member turn 100 because we don’t have that many people in our family.”
Well-wishers included distant cousins Ralph Carter of Rochester, N.Y., and his sisters Angela and Nancy Carter. Angela and her son, Ben Sprunger, traveled farthest, recently returning stateside from Rwanda and Burkina Faso, respectively.
Campbell’s first cousin and closest living relative, Mary Will Crook, 98, came from Carrollton, Ga., enjoying a weekend slumber party with her cousin as they did many times in their youth.
“Miss Campbell made chicken salad for her cousin,” Joann Hébert, one of Campbell’s caregivers, said. “Her independence keeps her mind alert. It is what keeps her going, even physically.”
FRIENDS AND FAMILY
Tallahassee relatives included cousin Margaret Neal, a nonagenarian who, like Campbell, was raised in Laurel Hill.
“She taught me in high school and she was one of my very best teachers,” Neal said. “I’ve always looked up to her and loved her. I hope we celebrate many more birthdays with her.”
“I saw so many people I taught in high school at my party,” Campbell said. “Some of them have gotten so old.”
Guests included members of Campbell’s Laurel Hill Presbyterian Church, where she is Session clerk emeritus and hosts monthly Women of the Church meetings at her home.
“She’s the one who keeps us going and has all the great ideas for ways we can help in the community,” member Celia Broadhead said. “She’s always so informed about what’s going on in the community.”
Light refreshments included moist made-from-scratch cakes baked and decorated by rising Crestview High School sophomore Jessianne Fortune.
“It was cool that I got to make those cakes for someone so special,” Jessianne said. Event organizer Tracy Curenton “told me McDonald likes pink.”
Jessianne created two cakes covered with pink circular swirls, and a third white cake girdled by a pink fondant belt with a pink oval “buckle” inscribed “100.”
‘A VERY NICE DAY’
Hébert said Campbell makes it a point to select her daily wardrobe, choosing a summery aqua top and complementing blue patterned skirt for her party.
“She tries to do everything for herself,” Hébert said. “She will not let us five girls who work for her do hardly anything.”
Kyle reflected on how his cousin entered a world without television, video games, Internet or cell phones, and thought of how the world will change when he’s 100.
“There will be more technology,” Kyle said. “There will be self-driving cars you won’t have to steer. But there will probably be more wars.”
But everything was peaceful in Laurel Hill as Campbell returned to the home in which she was born following her party.
“It has been a nice day,” Campbell said. “A very nice day.”
Email News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Woman's 100th birthday draws well-wishers from multiple generations