HURON — Mae Verch celebrated her 105th birthday on Friday, where family and friends gathered at StoneyBrook Suites to reminisce, sing and enjoy cake together.
From being born and raised on a family farm outside of Bancroft, to teaching in old one-room country school houses after graduating college in Madison, now Verch makes Huron her in home, since moving with her late husband, Carl, in 1997.
During the festivities on Friday, daughter Gail Marshall played the piano, while telling stories of her mother’s life between songs as everyone gathered to sing along to melodies of the past such as “Don’t Sit Under The Apple Tree,” “Wait For The Teacher,” “Daisy Bell,” among others.
“A creek ran through the land where we could go swimming in the summer and skating in the winter,” Verch recalled fond memories of growing up on the homestead. “There were fruit trees planted and in the summer time we could go get something to eat — cherries, plums and, of course, there were apple trees. We had a Shetland pony, after a few years went by we got a bigger horse to ride.”
At 105-years-old, Verch told some things learned over the years that led to her ways and means of approaching life, “I eat wholesome food, try to get enough sleep and exercise, and I say my prayers every night.”