By Michele Deluca
Niagara Gazette
LEWISTON —
Daisy Bell didn’t want a big fuss for her birthday. But when friends from her senior residence at Lewiston Country Estates heard she was turning 100 today they gathered together in the community room Tuesday to help her celebrate the milestone.
“She has only a few relatives here so we thought we’d give her a little surprise party and she was delighted,” said Irene Elia, owner of Lewiston Country Estates and former Niagara Falls mayor.
“She’s such a nice lady,” she said. “She’s so cute you just want to hug her.”
Bell even received a birthday card from President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle ... “Well supposedly from the president,” Bell said with a laugh. “From the White House anyway.”
Bell, raised in Tallahassee, Fla., visited Lewiston on a vacation when she was in her 20s and then stayed after she found a job. She was married to her husband Jack Bell for 47 years. She worked as a stenographer for area attorneys and at Carborundum.
Bell will celebrate today at a cook-out with friends.
When asked what it was like to be one hundred years old she thought for a moment and said, “it doesn’t feel any different. I’m still enjoying ... everything.”
She admitted there’s no real secret to her longevity. “I don’t have a secret,” she said. “I’m just here and the Lord hasn’t called me.”
