Over the past 100 years, a lot has changed around the world of Athabasca-resident Alice Smith.
“There were good times, bad times. But we suffered through it all,” Smith said. “Seen a lot of changes. Some good, some bad.”
On Nov. 18, Pleasant Valley Lodge staff hosted celebration of the100th birthday of Smith at Pleasant Valley Lodge. Dozens of family members and friends were on hand to celebrate her birthday, which was the day before.
“Lots of my friends and relatives are here,” Smith said. “I’m really glad to see them.”
Long-time family friend Larry Speers delivered one of the speeches at the celebration. Speers said Smith has a lot of pride about her history.
“Alice has a great history. She was always proud of her heritage, she was proud of where she came from. She was proud of her children, her flowers, her family,” Speers said.
Speers said Smith has also done an astronomical amount of knitting and crocheting over the years, and been generous in giving things away.
“If you took all the year and tied it together, that Alice has knit or crocheted over the years, you could go over the Earth and the sun and the stars and all the other heavenly bodies around here,” Speers said. “Thank you, Alice, for just being you, and thank you for the friendship we've had.”
Lodge and housing manager Roger Harrison gave the audience a telling of Smith’s life story.
Smith was born and raised in a family farm near Perryvale, Alberta, according to the account from Harrison. She had a case of polio when she was 13, but was able to recover from the illness.
He said Smith worked on farms her entire life, moving to St. Albert when she was 17 to work on farms in that area.
In 1937, she married to Ray Smith, and they moved back to Smith’s family farm and built their first house. Smith managed the family farm after moving there and raised five children together with her husband.
A second family home was built in 1960, which Smith still owns. She lived there until Aug. 20, 2014, when she moved into the Pleasant Valley Lodge.
Harrison said the lodge likes to do big celebrations when residents become centenarians.
“When we have a 100th birthday we try to make a big deal of it out at the lodge. It’s a huge accomplishment, especially to be as young as Alice is at 100 years old,” Harrison said.
He added the Smith family wanted something low-key but the celebration ended up bigger than expected.
“She’s a very, very humble woman,” Harrison said. “She didn’t want to brag about her life or what she’s done. She was just happy to have us all here and visiting with her.”
