Retiring Puna Santa Vic Beardsley is depicted sharing a danc with Saramae Landers, the Big Island’s oldest woman at 103. Saramae attended Beardsley’s 80th birthday party at the Nanawale Longhouse today, Saturday, Dec. 12, 2009. At the birthday party, many of Beardsley’s collectibles were auctioned to benefit the Puna Community Medical Center (PCMC). Saramae’s daughter, Sara Burgess, serves on the PCMC board. Beardsley and Landers danced to the music of The Concords, which is comprised of Dan and Carolyn Nix. Dan Nix is also known as Puna’s very own Elvis impersonator. While Dan Nix did not dress up in his Elvia garb today, he and his wife did play few Elvis numbers along with Christmas songs. Puna chef Teena Berry donated scrumptious carrot and chocolate cakes for the party. The event raised hundreds of dollars for the medical center, which relies on community funding.
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Posted by Tiffany Edwards Hunt @ 9:33 pm
Tags: Puna Community Medical Center, SaraMae Landers, Vic Beardsley
6 Responses
December 12th, 2009 at 9:55 pm
It’s a wonderful life! Thank you, Tiffany, for a great moment captured in words and photo. Merry Christmas.
December 12th, 2009 at 9:56 pm
Happy birthday to you and your wonderful daughter!
Mahalo, Hattie, and happy holidays to you and yours! (It’s not my birthday. Mine falls on July 28. The blog’s birthday falls on Dec. 1. The event was for Vic Beardsley’s 80th. He is retiring as Puna’s Santa and it was a way to honor him and to raise money for Puna Community Medical Center, which saved his life about six weeks ago. — tceh.
December 12th, 2009 at 10:01 pm
Great picture Tiff… ONe that I think you may think about possibly distributing further down the “Media” line.
December 12th, 2009 at 10:50 pm
[...] Landers, the Big Island’s oldest woman at 103, dances with 80-year-old Vic Beardsley, Puna’s retiring Santa, on [...]
December 12th, 2009 at 10:53 pm
Catherine,
You inspired me to name the next post “It’s A Wonderful Life For This 103-Year-Old And Her Santa Friend.” Truthfully, it was both awesome and scary to watch these two dancing together. I very much admire Saramae for her zest for life; I just would not want to see her stumble and fall as her 80-year-old friend twirls her.
Just before Saramae danced with Puna’s retiring Santa, she held my friend’s baby. I’ll feature that photo sometime soon. What a truly remarkable woman, so inspiring to say the least.
December 13th, 2009 at 12:54 pm
There are moments in life that go beyond “priceless”. This is a true moment in Puna/Pahoa history. Thank you for capturing and sharing!
Kim