Grandma Pitcher Celebrates Her 103rd Birthday On Saturday

On February 1st, 1911 this is what happened:

Thirty people were killed in an explosion in New Jersey.  Employees of the Central Railroad of New Jersey had been unloading cases of black powder from the freighter "Katherine W", when the accident happened at one minute past noon. The blast was felt 50 miles away, rocking office buildings and breaking windows in Manhattan, on the other side of the Hudson River. Eight officials of the railroad and the Du Pont Powder Company were indicted for the disaster.

The Governor of the Isfahan provience of Persia (now Iran) was shot. Mutemidi Khan and his nephew were murdered by a Russian national who had formerly been the chief of police in Isfahan. Ziebach, South Dakota, was established.  Admiral Charles Sperry, 62, commander of the Great White Fleet expedition of 1907-09 had died.

Who was born 103 years ago? Margaret Brainard was born. I know her as Grandma Pitcher.  She was born February 1st, 1911 and she's still going strong today.  She had 5 kids including 1 boy, my Dad.  She was born in West Warren, Pa. She still lives at the house, she was born in.

There are many things about Grandma that I love.  She has a wonderful laugh, that makes you laugh when you hear it. She gave me my love of Life cereal, especially Cinnamon Life. It's still my favorite. 

One of her favorite pastimes is America's pastime. She loves to watch baseball on TV.  She was bumming a little bit because there isn't any baseball now. I told her that the MLB and the YES network show classic games all the time, even now. I also told her that the Yankees always win on the YES network in the winter time.

When you went to Grandma's, you had to remember that she didn't have a modern indoor bathroom, unless you count a large bucket. I remember telling Dawn that she might want to use the bathroom before visiting Grandma. She has a outhouse, which works great in the summer but not so much now. 

Great news if you want to visit her now, she has been talked into getting a modern toilet, so no more large bucket......Hurray.

So Happy 103rd Birthday Grandma and thanks for everything you've done for me and all of the lives you've touched. You are a great woman and inspiration to us all.