Lifelong Cape Codder Celebrates 100th Birthday
Virginia Harvey, a Cape Cod native, recently celebrated a milestone of a birthday, having turned 100 years old on June 17.
To celebrate her big day, Ms. Harvey was able to gather with a few friends from her cribbage group for food and a game of cards. “I had a wonderful birthday party,” she said. “Everything was beautiful.”
Ms. Harvey has been traveling to Dennis Senior Center from Falmouth to play cribbage for years now, and still makes the trip down to join her friends for cards on Friday afternoons as often as she can with a group of folks who carpool together.
“Everybody is so friendly and loves each other,” Ms. Harvey said of her cribbage group, which consists of about 35 seniors. “Everybody does whatever they can for each other. We play in Dennis and they are terrific, and the ones here in Falmouth are great too. We have a great time. It keeps me going.”
Jeanne Todd, a friend and fellow cribbage player, explained just how meaningful their cribbage family is to its members. “We’re like family,” she said. “We see each other more than we see our own families most of the time. Once a week doesn’t sound like much but when you get old, our kids’ lives are different… so I feel very close to all of them.”
Ms. Todd said that Ms. Harvey, called Ginny by many, is a vital part of their cribbage group. “Everybody takes really good care of her,” Ms. Todd said. “She’s number one.”
Born at Cape Cod Hospital in 1921, Ms. Harvey has been on the Cape for most of her life. An avid reader, cribbage player, ocean lover and seafood fanatic, she says she’s grateful for her years spent on Cape Cod and cherishes the relationships she’s forged within the community.
“I once drove across the country from San Francisco to Cape Cod in the 1940s just so I wouldn’t miss a big party back home,” Ms. Harvey said. “I feel so fortunate to have lived my life so close to the ocean. I love the water. I live right across from it. I’m still living in my own home thanks to my great-nephew Timmy, my caretaker. As Patti Page would sing: ‘You’re Sure to Fall in love with old Cape Cod,’ and I did! There’s no place like the Cape.”