Elsie May Bernier awarded Boston Post Cane

From left, Lebanon Selectmen Royce Heath, Ben Thompson, centenarian Elsie May Bernier, Selectman Paul Philbrick and Elsie May's son, Sam. (Lebanon Voice/Harrison Thorp photos)

SOUTH LEBANON - A few years ago one of her four children tried to give her a cane prompting a stern rebuke form Elsie May Bernier, then in her mid-90s.

“I don’t need one of those,” she declared. “They’re for old people.”

Bernier, who turned 100 on Aug. 26, was honored by Lebanon’s Board of Selectmen on Tuesday as the latest recipient of the Boston Post Cane, which is awarded in many New England towns to its oldest resident.

Bernier shrugs off questions about how she attained such impressive longevity.

“I’ve always been healthy,” she said matter-of-factly as she sat surrounded by selectmen, a son, Sam Bernier, and the media on a couch in her immaculate Bigelow Road home.

That could be the understatement of the year.

At her last routine physical Elsie May Bernier’s blood pressure was 120 over 70-something, he son recounts. And she’s never been in a hospital except for the emergency room several years ago when she fell and broke her nose running for the kitchen phone.

On Tuesday she walked freely about her small mobile home with no cane or help. She cooks her own meals – mostly microwave – and lives by herself.

“They keep pretty good track of me though,” she said of her children. She also wears a lifeline alert pendant for added security.

Elsie May Bernier looks up at her son, Sam, as he holds the plaque congratulating her as the recipient of Lebanon's Boston Post Cane.

After Selectmen Chair Ben Thompson awarded her the Boston Post Cane, Elsie May Bernier said softly, “I’m very honored.”

Elsie May Bernier was born in Haverhill, N.H., before moving to Laconia when she was 5 years old.

She moved to Lebanon in 1970 and worked at the former Belle clothing store in downtown Rochester. It closed years ago, but she said people still stop her out on the street and say they recognize her from her days there.

She gave up her license when she was 90 at the advice of her children, but she still gets around, especially enjoying pancakes at Brickstones in Gonic. Her other favorite food? Meat loaf.

When she’s home she said she loves watching Boston’s sports teams in action, especially the Bruins. Watching TV sports was a favorite pastime she developed when she watched with her father. Now she continues the tradition with her children.

Her favorite Bruin, by the way, is Number 4, Bobby Orr.

She said she never smoked or drank alcohol but mostly attributes her longevity “to having four beautiful children.”

The Boston Post Cane will now go on display at the Lebanon Town Offices, where it will be accompanied by a nameplate that lists all of Lebanon’s recipients through the years.

That’s fine with Elsie May. She doesn’t need it, anyway.