A century. Or ten decades. Or a hundred years. On Thursday, June 14, that’s what Lake Orion resident Eddie Bird will be celebrating when he turns 100.
Bird moved to Lake Orion in 1940 with his late wife, Catherine. He has lived in the same house ever since.
It wasn’t a big move though, since Bird grew up just down the road in Oxford.
‘We lived on five different farms in about a four-mile radius,? he said, noting that his parents would buy and rent farms, which is the reason for the frequent moves when he was younger.
During school, he attended a country school, on the corner of Indianwood and Baldwin Roads, which housed first through eighth grade.
‘It was more fun going to the block school,? Bird said. ‘Kids that go to country schools get to have fun that city kids don’t get to have.?
As a youngster, Bird enjoyed going to the movies when he wasn’t in school or working on the farm.
‘My dad use to take us kids out to the show there in Oxford and it cost ten cents if you were 12 or under,? he said.
‘I was 12 or under for about four years,? Bird added with a chuckle.
‘We would spend our ten cents for the show and then ten cents for three bars of candy and still have a nickel left over and buy a package of gum.?
During his youth and young adult years, he would sometimes come up to Lake Orion and visit Park Island.
‘I used to go frogging with a neighbor boy of mine, and we would catch these frogs and sell them to the hotel there on Park Island, and they could use them as frog legs,? Bird said.
‘There is nothing better than frog legs, I don’t think,? he added with a laugh.
Bird also enjoyed the ferris wheel, the penny arcade and even went on the roller coaster, The Thriller, a few times.
‘If I would have known what I know now, I would never have gotten on it,? he said of the wooden roller coaster.
Another favorite pastime at Park Island was riding the merry-go-round.
‘They had a merry-go-round where you would pull the ring out every time you went around and if you got the brass ring, then you would get a free ride,? Bird said. ‘It was always fun to wonder whether you were going to get the brass ring or not.?
As Bird got older, he attended Oxford High School, and graduated in 1926. Time was no longer spent on the merry-go-round or at the movies, but rather on the dance floor.
‘I liked to dance,? said Bird, adding that square dancing was his favorite. ‘Every Saturday night there would be a dance somewhere around town.?
Bird was not originally a very good dancer, he said, but he went to Detroit and took lessons to get better.
It was on the dance floor that Bird met the woman that would later become his wife.
It was a Saturday night at a dance over on Silverbell and Lapeer Roads when he first saw Catherine.
‘I was going to a dance there and here this young lady had come with somebody else and she seemed to having lots of fun,? Bird said of his seeing his future wife for the first time.
He ended up dancing a couple of dances with her, but it seemed that that was the end of the story. His friend, the one he used to go frogging with, told him he had a date and was wondering if he got Bird a date also, if Bird would come on the double-date to a dance and drive the couples.
‘So that Saturday night, he came around and we want to get (his friend’s date) and what do you know, it was the girl that I had my eye on the week before,? he said.
Whenever Bird’s friend was dancing with the girl, Bird would sit out the dance, but when his friend was dancing with a different girl, Bird took the opportunity to dance with Catherine.
‘I didn’t dance a dance with anybody else but her.?
The following week, Bird asked his friend if it would be okay for him to ask Catherine out on a date.
‘He said sure. He could get lots of dates,? Bird added, saying that he wrote her a note asking her on a date and she said yes.
Ironically, they were going to go out on another double date with Bird’s friend, but his friend ended up not being able to get a date. Bird had better luck though, and married Catherine in 1934.
Together, the couple had three children, a son and two daughters. The family has continued to grow and Bird has ten grandchildren, 28 great-grandchildren (with two more on the way) and 5 great-great-grandchildren (also with two more on the way).
Nowadays, one of Bird’s favorite things is visiting Burger King almost everyday, which he has being doing since 1993. Sometimes he rides his motorized bike there and other times a friend or family member takes him. He always orders the same thing ? a Whopper Jr.
‘If I order a Whopper Jr. at a fancy restaurant they don’t know what I am talking about,? he joked. ‘I don’t go to the fancy restaurants.?
‘I ordered some shrimp one day and they were white, on this platter,? he added with a laugh. ‘I couldn’t eat them. They looked like those grubs from when my dad would plow.?
Bird also likes to play cards and bowls in a senior citizen league, which he has been doing since 1978.
‘I don’t have much of an average,? he said, ‘but I got a good team.?
Bird celebrated his birthday in a joint family reunion and birthday party on Sunday with some family and friends. On the actual day of his birthday, he plans to have lunch with a friend, a yearly ritual that he has done now for many years.