Dena celebrates 100 with family
By Chris Simon

The children, grandchildren and great grandchildren of Dena Cordery gathered to celebrate the Alcona residnet's 100th birthday Saturday.

Dena Cordery has travelled the world and left quite the legacy.

She has been all over Europe, has four children and 25 great grandchildren. Dena's family are her most important treasures, and many of them feel the same way about her. It's why several of them, along with friends and well wishers, gathered to celebrate Dena's 100th birthday at the Lions Hall in Alcona Saturday.

"I've done a lot of things, a lot of travelling," she said, a large crowd gathering to speak with her.

Dena, still feisty, sat in the middle of the hall, as several of the great grandchildren ran around nearby. Older members of the family sat down, discussed the celebration, the weather and other tidbits about the day.

"It's not different (turning 100)," she said, then asked the key to living to 100. "I haven't any idea."

Dena's daughter Brenda Henderson says her fondest memories with her mother include trips to the family cottage.

Photos by Chris Simon

"The cottage was very important to all of us," said Henderson. "We had a cottage at Woodland Beach on Georgian Bay. We spent our summers there, and my mother spent every summer there. OUr fondest memories are at the beach with my mother ... my father travelled."

She's proud to see her mother still healthy and spunky at 100.

"She means a lot to us. She hasn't really been sick, and it's so nice being able to see her communicate and know who people are," said Henderson. "We're really happy. My father lived to be 97, which was great."