Hi. How often is it we have a local resident reach young age of 100? Perhaps this local Genealogy News Article may be of interest to a few on the list. I noticed it in Stayner Sun (July 11, 2007) and decided to post it here. Might be there is a tidbit of new or interesting information for you. Sorry, can't answer questions about Mrs MOLES. I have no family connection to Mrs MOLES, excepting that the article does mention "George CONN". George is a relation of my wife. The article follows . Mary Moles passes the century mark this weekend .birthday girl in Clearview Township. Mary Moles of Batteaux turns 100 years old on Sunday. The local woman, who now lives with her daughter Ellen and son-in-law Norman, talked about her first century during an interview last Thursday. For starters, Moles said she doesn't exactly know how she got to be 100. "I'm really not sure to be honest. I guess you just have to live one day at a time," she said. And Moles - still quite spry - added she doesn't view her 100th birthday as a big deal really, even if others do. "Really it's just another day to me," she said. Moles was born in Nottawa, to Ida and Joseph Chase. At the time the family lived in a two-storey, clapboard house on Cty. Rd. 124, across from where Smart's Storage is now located. The home no longer stands. Her father operated a mill and later a farm - where the Chase family lived - on the south side of Batteaux Sideroad. Moles was the youngest growing up. She had three older sisters and an older brother. She noted that longevity is somewhat of a family trait. Her dad died in his 89th year, her mother in her 90th year and her sister in her 101st year. "So I guess from that you can see it's kind of in the genes," she said, chuckling. Growing up, Moles attended the old Nottawa Elementary School and Collingwood Collegiate Institute, which was located at the corner of Hume and Hurontairo Streets in Collingwood. After finishing Grade 13, Moles said she went to Toronto Normal School for one year in order to become a teacher. "I always liked children and at that time there weren't a lot of opportunities for the females," Moles explained, when asked to elaborate why she chose to become a teacher. Her first job was at a one-room, yellow brick schoolhouse in Bruce Township. Officially the school was known as School Section (S.S.) 9. "But after two years my parents, who were getting older, wanted me back at home so I came back to the Batteaux," she said. Moles would then get a job at S.S. 20 Nottawasaga - the decommissioned school that is located directly across from where she now lives on Nottawasaga Concession 6. "I started there in September 1929. I guess there were about 20 to 30 students," she remembered. Class ran from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday to Friday. Most of the students lived on farms and walked to and from the red brick school each day. For Moles the days were long and busy. She taught Grade 1 to 8 students math, reading, history, geography and so forth. "Often at nights I'd be marking papers or getting ready for the next day. There were no secretaries to help out back then," she said. And did Moles ever find need for the strap, when students got out of line? "Occasionally - but not very often," she said, laughing at the question. After three years at S.S. 20, Moles moved to a school in Kirkville - a tiny community west of Collingwood. She taught in the one-room school for seven years and then transferred closer to home - to Nottawa Elementary School. In 1941 she married her husband - Ross Moles, a farmer. The two met when she was teaching in Batteaux. They made a home at the farm her parents had moved to on the Batteaux Sideroad and later built the house that she lives in today. Moles said she left teaching in 1942 to start a family - going on to have her daughters Ellen (Klinck) and Lenore (Presley). But after 10 years it was time to get back into the classroom, she said. Her posting was S.S. 13, also located on Nottawasaga Concession 6. "So much had changed though when I went back," she noted. "The school system was different, the books were different, and the administration was different. For the first little while I just stumbled through." Moles eventually found her footing though and went on to spend seven years at the school, until it was closed. "She really was a wonderful teacher," recalled 60-year-old Donna Robinson of Stayner. "She was a very helpful teacher, she always had control of her classroom, Grades 1 through 8 - I never had any complaints about her." After leaving S.S. 13, Moles went to Baywood School on Fairgrounds Road. The building is now home to the Manito Shrine Club. "I was there until retiring in 1968," she said. In total, Moles said she taught for 32 years. Her career, she added, was very satisfying. And because she's stayed in the area, Moles has been able to keep in touch with some of her students. "Unfortunately so many of the older ones are dropping off now. They are in their 70s," she said. "Just recently though I got a nice thrill. A little girl I taught years ago - she is 76 now - sent me a birthday card and a nice letter." In her retirement years - her husband died in 1980 - Moles said she has been able to enjoy reading, television and putting together history books for the different schools where she taught. She's also put together family history books. Today she can't read much due to bad eyesight but Moles said she does enjoy playing solitaire. "I don't always win though," she quipped. Another favourite card game is cribbage. Moles plays with another retired teacher who comes to visit about every six weeks. She worships at the Anglican Christ Church in Batteaux as well. Getting older though means making periodic changes and Moles said at 85 she had to give up her driver's licence. And today she doesn't get out much either. "I don't like to go out often. I have excellent health really - but my big complaint is my eyes and my ears...they aren't good and that makes it difficult for me in crowds," she explained. Looking back on her life, Moles acknowledged she's seen a lot of changes. She lived through the First World War, The Great Depression, the Second World War, the Cold War, and the societal changes of the 1960s and 1970s. "I can remember my first car ride," she pointed out, when asked about all the different things she's done. "I was nine years old. There were two people in Nottawa who had a car: Bill Copeland and George Conn. Bill took me for a ride. I don't know what make it was and I don't know where all we went. It wasn't far though." Friends and family can take a car ride of their own on Sun., July 15 - stopping at Christ Church cottage in Batteaux, where a birthday come and go tea will be held in honour of Moles. The social runs from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Cheers Cliff Carter St. Albert, Alberta, Canada