23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
Wicklow woman celebrates her 100th birthday by dancing the day away
Wicklow People
Today at 07:11
Valerie Poulson proved the old adage 'age is nothing but a number' to be true as she celebrated her 100th birthday at Aisling House Nursing Home in Arklow with a little song and dance.
Valerie originally hails from Germany and was joined by her daughter Edith and some close personal friends on Thursday, the day of her birthday, as staff at Aisling House Nursing Home pulled out all the stops to ensure she had a most memorable day.
That morning she also received a cheque from the state and a special message from President Michael D Higgins, congratulating her on reaching such a milestone.
Jan Ali of Aisling House Nursing Home said: 'Valerie is a very elegant lady who first came to us around two years ago. She absolutely loves singing and dancing, and has a beautiful singing voice. Silent Night was originally composed in German and she sings a beautiful version in both German and English.
'We had Dave Canavan in attendance at her party playing all the residents favourite songs on his keyboard. Valerie got up to have a bit of a dance and was singing away to all the songs. She's amazing and is very popular with the other residents and all the staff.
'We also presented Valerie with a lovely birthday cake we got from Pettitt's, which everyone thoroughly enjoyed. I have to thank Christy's Pub as well. They heard about our plans to hold a birthday party for Valerie, and without us even contacting them, they donated lots of food for the bash, which was an unbelievably kind gesture.'
