To mark her 100th birthday, a party was held for Adelaide Barnswell in the backyard of the home she shares with her daughter and son-in-law Arlene and Rob, and her partner Ken McCuaig.

The shindig took place Saturday, Sept. 8, three days shy of Adelaide's milestone day - she was born Sept. 11, 1912 in Nanaimo.

This was to accommodate the roughly 100 guests who helped this new centenarian celebrate the momentous occasion.

The catered bash included a cake, but instead of decorating it with 100 candles, it simply had three lit ones - a waxed one, zero, and zero - that Adelaide blew out.

One-hundred blazing candles had the potential to create quite a hazard, said Adelaide's great-granddaughter Stephanie Grant.

"We didn't want to set Nana on fire," Grant said.

If this happened, Adelaide would have likely stopped, dropped, and rolled - that's how active this spry senior is.

She easily navigates the stairwell of her home, does her own cooking and cleaning, and is a prolific baker, making bread, cookies, and cakes.

"I do everything around here," Adelaide said. "I keep busy. I live upstairs and go up and down the stairs all the time."

"She doesn't stop," Arlene noted.

Part of Adelaide's secret to longevity is going with life's flow.

"I didn't let things bother me too much," Adelaide said. "You don't expect to go through your life and not have any troubles."

Adelaide quit smoking in her early 50s but does have quite a sweet tooth, according to Grant.

"She has a fairly big sweet tooth and the newest generation of children know they can always count on Nana for having a treat for them," Grant elaborated.

Adelaide lived in Victoria for the first half century or so of her life before moving to Maple Ridge in 1966. When she moved to this community, she and her late husband Albert (Barney), a woodworker who died in 1999, were the first tenants of Pioneer Village.

She's seen a lot of changes in Maple Ridge while living in the District over the past 46 years. "It's growing so fast out here," she said.

Adelaide and Albert (Barney) had four children: Arlene, Adele, Allen, and Arnold, who passed away in 1989.

From those four children, come a staggering number of grandchildren.

Her great-great-grandson Mason Grant (Stephanie's son), born Sept. 3, is Adelaide's 69th direct descendant, spanning five generations.

Grant said that when her great-grandfather passed away, her Nana became interested in Reiki.

"This interest caused her to look after her health better and also led to the relationship she shares with Ken today, as he is also very involved in the practice," Grant said.

"The hobby along with the new companionship in her life really has given her many additional happy years and I am grateful that she is still so daring to branch out and try new things."

tlandreville@mrtimes.com