SEQUIM — For fun, Ione Gaston likes to drive up to the Dominion Terrace clubhouse on Saturday mornings for tai chi, a Chinese form of gentle exercise.
And she likes to volunteer at the Sequim Chamber of Commerce Visitor Center.
Friends are happy to hop in Gaston’s car and catch rides to tai chi. But people aren’t calling and asking her to do much volunteering anymore.
They may think she doesn’t have the energy, Gaston said.
She is, after all, turning 100 on Saturday.
But Jan Wright, activities director at Dominion Terrace, knows better.
Wright asked Gaston to help out with the Terrace’s “Big Sale” on April 29.
Gaston said yes, of course, so she’ll be among the volunteers selling baked goods, plants, pre-owned housewares, jewelry and other goodies to raise money for the Terrace’s social events.
“She’s a little live wire,” Wright said.
Serenaded by Elvis
She recalled this year’s Valentine’s Day dinner, in which Elvis impersonator Guy Horton brought Gaston up on stage for a serenade.
“He got down on his knees and sang to her, and then he placed a red scarf around her neck,” Wright said.
Talk to Gaston for a few minutes, and it’s easy to picture her charming Elvis and anybody else. She smiles and laughs with a visitor she’s just met, treating her like a longtime friend.
Ask this centenarian for the formula for a long life, and she instantly replies that it’s plain good luck.
And the key to a happy life?
A positive outlook, Gaston said. The sunny attitude was inborn in her case, she said.
“I’ve always enjoyed life,” she said.