CENTENARIAN Grace Reeves celebrated her 101st birthday at Myrtleford Lodge last Monday, where she was presented with a large sponge cake.
Ms Reeves also said she received flowers and chocolates on her birthday, while the following day a present came in the post from her younger sister.
The 101-year-old grew up on an orchard in Doncaster, where she said buses used to visit in spring so people could see the blossom.
“It was a good outdoor life and easy food, all the fruit and farm animals,” she said.
Ms Reeves said she spent four years working managing a ‘Hartzmeyer’ chocolate shop in Camberwell, where customers could buy half a pound of chocolate for $2.
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She said the business had around 14 shops across Melbourne.
“We would have peppermint creams, we'd have fruit creams, we'd have chocolate caramels,” she said.
“For Easter you’d have a lot of Easter eggs in rabbit form and chicken form, but they'd be quite big ones.”
Through the chocolate shop she met her future husband, Phillip, who was the brother of one lady she worked with.
Ms Reeves also worked for the Holeproof company in Deepdene and at a drycleaner.
She said she was once part of an entertainment group of six ladies, consisting of music and acting, that would perform around Box Hill.
When interviewed by the Myrtleford Times/Alpine Observer last year Ms Reeves’ tip for longevity was “just putting one foot after the other”, but this year she suggested her age could also be down to her dislike of alcohol.
“Why bother to drink something you don’t like,” she said.
