Stratton House Nursing Home resident Cora Torrey celebrated her 100th birthday last November, feted with a reception organized by friends, relatives, and the staff at Stratton House Nursing Home.

Born in Jamaica, VT on November 9, 1900, Cora Bemis attended grade school in Jamaica and then went on to substitute teach in the school during the nineteen-teens. She mar- ried Alden Torrey in 1921 and the couple had three children, Alden, Donna and Virginia ("Ginny").

During WWII, the family moved to Elliot, Maine, so that Alden could take a job in the Portsmouth Navy Yard, building ships. Five years later, after the war ended, the Torreys moved to Wardsboro, and Alden worked at Bills Lumber Mill. When Alden died in 1983, Cora and Alden had been married for 62 years.

Cora has been a resident of Stratton House Nursing Home for ten years, and she says: "It's my home. The nurses here are so wonderful, and I like it here very much." If there's something going on at Stratton House, Cora knows about it, including which nurses' cars are in the parking lot and when.

Cora greatly enjoys all of the activities at Stratton House, especially bowling, which she didn't take up until she became a resident. Her room is adorned with crafts, most of which she has created herself. Cora has little interest in television, but she never misses a broadcast of a Boston Red Sox game. In fact, during her 100th birth- day party, she proudly wore a Boston Red Sox hat and jacket given to her by fellow (equally ardent) Sox fan Don Leigh. Don and Cora agree that this is the year the Sox will take the pennant!