by Bea Peterson
On June 4 Margaret Kinn, formerly of Berlin, celebrated her 100th birthday surrounded by friends at Fillmore Pond in Bennington, VT, where she now resides. In 1910 William Howard Taft was President, the US had 46 states, the earth passed through the tail of Halley’s Comet and the population of the country was 92,228,496.
Margaret was born in Weehawken, NJ. When she was 15 her parents purchased the Colonial Inn on Main St., and the family moved to Berlin. Margaret graduated from Berlin High School and Albany Business College.
One of her earliest bookkeeping jobs was for New York State. The department she worked in later became part of the US Forest Service, and she was transferred to Philadelphia and then Washington, DC. She returned to Berlin and worked for Seagroatt’s in Albany and Berlin for 25 years.
For years Margaret enjoyed golf, bridge, taking cruises to Europe and the Caribbean with friends, ceramics, gardening and flower arranging. After retiring she took painting classes, and many of her pieces are displayed on the walls of her present home. She was a member of the former Taconic Valley Branch, NY Division, Woman’s National Farm and Garden for many years and often hosted meetings and teas at her home. She was the branch Treasurer and Historian and held several Division positions and served on the National F&G Council. She was also Berlin Town Historian for many years.
Neither Margaret nor her brother Bill ever married. They shared the family home on Main St. for many years, often wintering in Florida. She continued to winter there until five years ago.
Margaret tried to learn to drive when she was young. She had a terrible time with the standard shift and clutch. She failed the driving test more than once. Finally, her brother told her to give it up, and he promised to always drive her wherever she wanted to go. And he did. When Bill passed away his car just sat in the garage, and Margaret tried one last time to learn to drive. She succeeded and earned her driver’s license at age 75!
Margaret’s legs aren’t as good as she would like, so she doesn’t get out much these days. She enjoys events at Fillmore Pond, plays Bingo and Keno regularly and does word puzzles.
Margaret has always had a great sense of humor and would always keep her friends entertained with stories of one misadventure or another. After the singing of “Happy Birthday” at her party last week, someone asked “how old are you now” and she responded “only 100!”
Sister Kenan presented Margaret with a special plaque from Sacred Heart Church in Berlin wishing her a happy 100th birthday and expressing faithful gratitude for all she had done and been to the parish. She also received many flowers and cards.