As the saying goes, the older the fiddler, the sweeter the tune — Recently two area residents conducted a wonderful tune while talking about their decades in the area.

Celebrating her 100th birthday today, Rose Lasher was born on Aug. 31, 1922 in Eldred. She grew-up in Eldred, right next door to the home in which she currently resides, and graduated from Otto High School.

In her youth, during World War II, she worked in the Eldred Munitions Plant.

“When I first went to the Munitions plant I was just out of school and I was what they called a ‘stemmer,’ and all day we had to put little round circles in place, then powder in the little round hole and then we put something over it,” recalled Lasher. “Then, I moved to Plant 4 at the Munitions Plant and I was a secretary, until the plant closed.”

After her career at the Eldred Munitions Plant, she mostly was a stay-at-home mom raising four children of her own and a stepchild. She also worked odd jobs, when the need arose.

“I’ve had a good life and good children,” Lasher explained.

Nowadays, Lasher spends four days a week at the Eldred Senior Center, where she has been a member for over 50 years.

“I don’t get out too often anymore,” Lasher stated. “I just gave up my license this last year.” Her daughter, Charlotte Aurand, added, “We call her driving Miss Rosey now,” with a chuckle.

In regards to her mother’s upcoming birthday, Aurand stated, “It is just an incredible opportunity and we are terribly excited about celebrating her 100th birthday. When she turned 90, we had an open house celebration and I said to her, ‘What do you wish for the future,’ and she said, ‘my 100th birthday,’ so here we are.”

In recognition of Lasher’s 100th birthday today, there will be an Open House Birthday Party, open to the public, from 2 to 4 p.m. on Sunday at the Eldred Fire Hall.

“We are hoping lots of people will come celebrate her,” said Aurand.

Lasher’s wish for her 100th birthday, “is good health.”

Another area elder with an upcoming milestone to celebrate is Paull Monjar who will be celebrating his birthday, on Sept. 6 when he turns 105 years-old.

According to Monjar, he spent his early years growing up on a farm, “just outside Clintonville.”

“I was outside more than Mother could find me,” recalled Monjar. “Memories on the farm were always good.”

In his teenage years, Monjar moved to Gifford “during the oil age, because my dad got a job in the oil fields.”

Monjar and his seven other siblings, four girls and four boys (including Monjar), stayed in a boarding house.

“We were all healthy, never had a lot of sickness,” Monjar recalled of his youth. “I only remember having to go to the hospital once — we built our own oil field equipment and we had the engine from a Model T Ford running our drilling equipment. One thing you never do is grab steel with leather on your hands because it will immediately get stuck. And that is what happened, I put my hand on that crank and couldn’t get it off, when I did rip it off, my thumb was bent back.”

Monjar moved to Bradford around 1942, when he got married. He and his wife had three children together, two boys and a girl — Dale, Todd and Molly.

Monjar was an avid baseball player, known throughout the area, as well as an avid golfer.

To send a birthday card to Mr. Monjar in time for his 105th birthday on Sept.6, it can be mailed to Chapel Ridge, attention: Paul Monjar, 210 St. Francis Dr., Bradford, PA 16701.

Q&A with

centenarians

Favorite food to eat?

Rose’s favorites include toast, salad and hotdogs.

“I eat all the time,” Paul stated, “I never enjoyed anything more than playing baseball.”

Best piece of advice?

Rose stated, “If you are going to get married, you have to go 50-50 on everything you do. There is no one way, or the other — because that just does not work.”

Paul stated, “You don’t need anything other than good health.”

What keeps you young?

Rose attributes her longevity to “the good man upstairs,” spending copious amounts of time with her friends from the senior center and family, as well as staying active.

You might have guessed, but Paul said the thing that keeps him young is baseball. He also added, “I can look back and know that not smoking is one of the things that helped me.”

Favorite memory?

Rose stated, “All my children.”

“Oh, I’ve had a lot of memories,” Paul stated. “My favorite memory would be when me and my dad stopped in to see a man named Harry Crawford and he said ‘What’s the boy doing?’ and when my dad told him I was just working the farm and playing ball, the man responded ‘good, because Quaker State has an industrial league baseball team.” Paul’s favorite memory was when he was invited to try out for the Quaker State Industrial Baseball Team.

What do you do these days for fun?

Rose visits the Eldred Senior Center approximately four times a week and, according to her daughter, she is known for her card playing.

Paul enjoys watching the Buffalo Bills play on TV and attending exercise classes at Chapel Ridge. “They are playing tonight at 7 p.m.,” he said with a grin.

What is your favorite thing about living in this area?

Rose stated that her husband’s job, as well as her friends and family are what kept her in the Eldred area for the past 100 years.

Paul stated his favorite thing about the area, “was when we started the baseball team out in Gifford. And then every Sunday we would all meet up and play.”

Family —

Rose was married for 64 years before her husband passed. She currently has five living generations with four children and one stepchild, 15 grandchildren, 23 great-grandchildren, and 9 great-great-grandchildren.

Paul, whose significant other is also deceased, has three children, Dale, Todd and Molly, as well as one granddaughter, two grandsons and two great-grandsons.