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Peninsula woman rides ferris wheel at Saanich Fair for over 30 years

Pauquachin grandmother teaches family that ‘age is a just a number’
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Dorothy Henry, 87, (centre) sits next to granddaughter Danielle and son Rudy on the porch of her Pauquachin home. Henry uses a walker, but that doesn’t stop her from getting to the Saanich Fair every summer. (Nina Grossman/News Staff)

For 87-year-old Dorothy Henry, age is a just a number.

Henry has made it a point to ride the ferris wheel at the Saanich Fair every single year for more than three decades, and the 151st fair this weekend was no exception.

The tiny Pauquachin woman moves slowly, using a walker to move around her patio, with her small dog Bella at her feet. She might only be a few years from 90, but her sons lovingly refer to her as their ‘teenage mom.’

READ ALSO: GALLERY: Families flock to the 151st Saanich Fair

“She’s loved wherever she goes. Everyone thinks she’s the cutest little old lady around. She’s such a positive role model and I don’t think she realizes,” said Henry’s son Herman. “She’s the big leader of our family.”

Flanked by her children and dozens of grandchildren, Henry makes her way to the Saanich Fair where she’s helped onto the ferris wheel for the ride she looks forward to every year. She’s been going since her 10 kids were little, when the busy fair became a family tradition.

“I’ll be going until I die, I guess,” she said with a chuckle.

Henry’s son Rudy says his mom draws a crowd at the fair every year. “She’s walking in with her walker and people say ‘she’s not going on, is she?’ and then you can hear all the little kids taking pictures.”

READ ALSO: VIDEO: Clara Knight has attended Saanich Fair since 1947

Herman says his mother – and her annual pilgrimage to the Saanich Fair ferris wheel – remind the family that age is just a number.

“She’s just youthful,” he said. “She’s like a young person in an old body. We can never catch up to her.”



nina.grossman@blackpress.ca

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nina.grossman@blackpress.ca