A birthday like no other

Mary Mills will be turning 100 tomorrow but it isn’t the first time she’s had a big occasion in peculiar circumstances.

Mary Mills showing off her prized possession – a trophy she won in a waltzing competition.

MARY Mills will be celebrating her 100th birthday tomorrow and the first thing she is going to do after isolation is strap on her dancing shoes.

She said she was disappointed celebrations were cancelled and had never experienced anything like the social distancing requirements currently in place.

“I am used to going out all the time,” Ms Mills said.

“It is so hard being stuck inside but I get out in the garden when I get sick of the house.”

Ms Mills said she was often asked the secret to living so long.

“I have said, ‘it is hard work, exercise and keeping your brain active’,” she said.

“I do dancing and that keeps your brain active.”

Looking back, Ms Mills said she had danced throughout her life and it was one of her highlights.

“I have never done anything too exciting but I have a big cup I won from dancing in a waltz competition,” she said.

Ms Mills said she still took classes with the Burnett Senior Citizens and was learning new vogue.

Ms Mills was born in Bundaberg and grew up on a dairy farm working alongside her eight siblings before she moved to Goomeri at age 16.

When in Goomeri, Ms Mills said she met her then husband and it seemed like she had a knack for having big occasions fall during trying times.

“I got married in the 1942 flood,” she said.

“The day we were to be married we had one of the biggest floods.

“We couldn’t get anywhere to have a wedding and my husband and the minister came over in the boat and we got married at home.”

As for turning 100, Ms Mills said she was very pleased and loved her letter from the Queen.

“I am very proud to think that I have done it, I never thought I would.”