The Red Bank council and two state legislators honored three people for longevity Wednesday night. Among them: Edith Blake, above, who celebrated her 100th birthday on Sunday.
Blake told redbankgreen she didn’t know what all the “fuss” was about.
“I don’t know how you’re supposed to feel at 100,” said the Tilton Avenue mother of four, three of whom survive, and 13 grandchildren. “I feel like I did in my fifties.”
A devotee of the borough Senior Citizens Center, she fills her days with crocheting and word games, she said.
Mayor Pasquale Menna praised Blake for her “wisdom and grace,” after which she stood and told the applauding audience: “Thank you everybody. I love you all.”
Also honored during the meeting were former Administrator Stanley Sickels, who retired in December after 38 years as a borough employee, and three-time fire department chief Pete DeFazio.
Both were presented citations from the State of New Jersey by state Senator Vin Gopal and Eric Houghtaling.
In addition, DeFazio was given a borough citation, and will be commemorated with a plaque on a borough facility at a future date, Menna said.
DeFazio is the only three-term chief in the 146-year history of the volunteer fire department, with one-year stints in 1987, 1993 and 2017, Menna said. DeFazio retired from the borough police force after 35 years in 2010.
(Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
