According to Clara Grootveld, the key to living until you are 100 is quite simple.
“Singing, dancing and wine,” she told The Morning Star, at her centenarian birthday bash at the Schubert Centre Monday, March 18.
She was celebrated with a cake, music and plenty of line dancing, an activity which Grootveld taught for over 30 years.
“Clara taught Mondays and I taught Thursdays,” said her friend Josie Brown. “We were very active in the Schubert Centre and we volunteered at luncheons, washing dishes, pancakes for Sunday morning.”
“I danced for about 20 years with Clara and Josie,” said another friend, Silvia Shewchuk. “We celebrated birthdays and things like that and then we got reacquainted dancing, being social and having a connection. She was always a loving and caring person.”
Born on March 18, 1924 in Wiarton, Ont., Grootveld moved to Calgary in 1957, where she met her husband. After working for the Hudson’s Bay Company for 25 years, early retirement called her name in 1982, when she subsequently settled in Vernon.
Along with line dancing, Grootveld enjoyed exercise classes, curling, cross country skiing, knitting and crocheting.
The Schubert Centre was filled with line dancers, in a celebration of Clara Grootveld's 100th birthday!
— Vernon Morning Star (@VernonNews) March 18, 2024
Grootveld was a line dance instructor for 30 years #myvernon pic.twitter.com/uwhG0IR17a
She now lives in the Gateby Care Facility, and had kept her activity level high until recently, when a foot infection confined her to a wheelchair. She was also diagnosed with COVID-19 just six weeks ago. However, her one wish was to celebrate her 100th.
“She told me, I will get over this and I will be at my birthday,” said Jennifer, another good friend of hers. “She has a strong spirit.”
As Grootveld sipped red wine (she changes to white in the winter months) with her fresh new purple nail polish, her happiness of reaching the milestone was palpable.
“Just keep singing and dancing,” she said.
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