110-year-old not impressed with her age

Florence Poe's party at Fountainbleau Lodge to celebrate her turning 110 years old featured a five-piece orchestra, a crowd of more than 200 people and two 10-foot-plus buffet tables laden with goodies.

But age doesn't mean much to Florence.

"It doesn't impress me," the Farmington native said when asked about turning 110.

"It's just another birthday."

The Missouri native was born in 1897 to William Robinson and Melinda Carolyn Jones, who traversed the then-frozen Mississippi River in a covered wagon from Illinois to raise a family of nine in Farmington, Mo.

Poe was the youngest, born after the family had settled in Farmington.

A farmer's daughter, Poe recalls eating wild game such as opossum, squirrel and raccoon for supper, though she said she could only stomach the opossum "just one time."

Poe went on to raise her own family of four, all girls, during the Great Depression. She has a total of nine grandchildren, 15 great-grandchildren, 10 great-great-grandchildren and one great-great-great-great-grandchild.

Peggy Laird, Poe's youngest daughter, who traveled 400 miles from Valparaiso, Ind., to attend her mother's party, said she couldn't have been more thrilled with the event, which was planned and hosted by Fountainbleau Lodge with the help of family.

"I expected that it was going to be great. I loved it," Laird said.

For the occasion, Poe was dressed in an amethyst-hued party gown, and her silver hair was neatly braided. A silver tiara rested on the braids.

Before dinner was served, Matt Heisserer, a Fountainbleau activities coordinator who was acting as master of ceremonies for the party, gave a short history of some of the details of Poe's life.

She has never ridden in a plane and has no desire to do so.

She never denies her age, she said, because she's so proud of how good she looks.

When asked about global warming, she insists it can't be as bad as the stove she once slaved over preparing dinner for her family.

"Flo is still writing the notes of her adulthood, so we'll have to wait for more," Heisserer said.

The Jerry Ford Orchestra serenaded the event while relatives, friends and staff members dined.

bdicosmo@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 245