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Special teams still stinging Nittany Lions in key moments

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Happy birthday Colby Meck!

<p>JENKINS TWP. &#8212; He was 105, in a wheelchair, clapping his hands and pumping his arms in time to the music.</p><p>She was a generation younger, on her feet, her heart still beating fast from the polka that had just finished.</p><p>Their eyes met. They pointed toward each other, acknowledging a connection, and even though there was a table between them, and he was sitting while she was standing, Edwin Davies and Dorothy Sarnick shared a dance.</p><p>That was just one of the poignant moments that took place Friday afternoon during a birthday celebration for nine residents of Wesley Village&#8217;s Partridge-Tippett Nursing Facility who are age 100 and older.</p><p>&#8220;I try to have this party every September,&#8221; activities director Tami Chesniak said after distributing cake to the guests of honor, about 80 other residents, friends and relatives.</p><p>Vocalists Diane and Vernon Jones from the Pittston-based band Windfall were prepared with appropriate music from the birthday celebrants&#8217; youth, songs such as &#8220;You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby,&#8221; &#8220;Let Me Call You Sweetheart,&#8221; and &#8220;Won&#8217;t You Come Home, Bill Bailey?&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;This one was written in 1916,&#8221; Diane Jones said before launching into &#8220;You&#8217;re a Grand Old Flag.&#8221;</p><p>By the time the singers had worked their way into hits from the 1950s, party guests were proving they remembered lyrics.</p><p>Vernon Jones started them out with &#8220;I found my &#8230;&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;THRILL!&#8221; the crowd sang out. &#8220;On BLUEBERRY HILL.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;Who said &#8216;strawberry?&#8217; &#8221; Jones teased.</p><p>During brief conversations between the songs, some of the day&#8217;s honorees talked about seeing the events of a century or more.</p><p>Which had been the best year?</p><p>&#8220;Whenever you&#8217;re loved,&#8221; said Ann Salus, a retired hairdresser who anticipates her 100th birthday in October.</p><p>What should a younger person do to try to live that long?</p><p>&#8220;Just be pleasant,&#8221; Salus said.</p><p>As the music continued during the hour-long party, several Wesley Village staffers and a resident or two danced a bit, especially when Windfall started a polka.</p><p>While Vernon and Diane Jones led a chorus of &#8220;E-I-E-I-E-I-O,&#8221; Wesley Village employee Loretta Chmura hit the dance floor with visitor Dorothy Sarnick, of Plains, whose mother, Olga Pieck, lives at the facility.</p><p>After the polka, Sarnick, who had noticed the animated expression on Davies&#8217; face as he watched the fancy footwork, just couldn&#8217;t sit down.</p><p>She didn&#8217;t know him, she said later. &#8220;But I couldn&#8217;t stop dancing. He just looked so happy.&#8221;</p><p>More fun was yet to come, as Windfall invited guests to participate in &#8220;wheelchair limbo,&#8221; which took place under a limbo stick. Then they reminisced about cowboys and cowgirls, and finally, led a rendition of &#8220;Happy Trails to You &#8230; Until We Meet Again.&#8221;</p><p>Birthday celebrants included Elizabeth Bray, who maneuvered her wheelchair from the birthday table up to the band so she could shake hands with the singers and thank them for coming; and Mary Chebalo, Edwin Davies, Mildred Kilgallon, Mary Krill, Ronald Rogers, Martha Thomas, Dorothy Zalenski and Ann Salus.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Residents of Wesley Village who are 100 years or older were treated to a birthday party Friday. Seated at the table are, from left: Dorothy Zalinski, Ronald Rogers, Edwin Davies, Mildred Kilgallon, Martha Thomas, Mary Chebalo, Elizabeth Bray and Ann Salus. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_century2.jpg</photo0><caption0>Residents of Wesley Village who are 100 years or older were treated to a birthday party Friday. Seated at the table are, from left: Dorothy Zalinski, Ronald Rogers, Edwin Davies, Mildred Kilgallon, Martha Thomas, Mary Chebalo, Elizabeth Bray and Ann Salus. </caption0><photoCredit0>Clark Van Orden | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_century3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">The birthday cake was about to be cut and served to party attendees at Wesley Village. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_century3.jpg</photo1><caption1>The birthday cake was about to be cut and served to party attendees at Wesley Village. </caption1><photoCredit1>Clark Van Orden | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_century4.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">&#8216;Just be pleasant,&#8217; Ann Salus said, giving advice to younger people on how to achieve the century mark. She will turn 100 in October. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_century4.jpg</photo2><caption2>&#8216;Just be pleasant,&#8217; Ann Salus said, giving advice to younger people on how to achieve the century mark. She will turn 100 in October. </caption2><photoCredit2>Clark Van Orden | For Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_century5.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Loretta Chmura, an employee at Wesley Village, and Dorothy Sarnick, whose mother, Olga, lives at Wesley Village, dance a polka during the recent birthday party. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_century5.jpg</photo3><caption3>Loretta Chmura, an employee at Wesley Village, and Dorothy Sarnick, whose mother, Olga, lives at Wesley Village, dance a polka during the recent birthday party. </caption3><photoCredit3>Clark Van Orden | For Times Leader </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_century1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Edwin Davies, 105, a resident of Wesley Village, enjoys watching people dance during the annual birthday party for people 100 years of age and older Friday afternoon at Wesley Village in Jenkins Township. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_century1.jpg</photo4><caption4>Edwin Davies, 105, a resident of Wesley Village, enjoys watching people dance during the annual birthday party for people 100 years of age and older Friday afternoon at Wesley Village in Jenkins Township. </caption4><photoCredit4>Clark Van Orden | For Times Leader </photoCredit4></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p><strong>By Mary Therese Biebel</strong></p><p>mbiebel@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mary Therese Biebel at 570-991-6109 or on Twitter @BiebelMT</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Wesley Village in Jenkins Township honors nine centenarians