The following article written by Lisa M. Boucher, St. Albans Messenger Correspondent appeared in The Friday, September 25, 2009 Edition
Fairfax matriarch keeps life in 'drive'
Imogene Collins turns 100 Sunday
By LISA M. BOUCHER, Messenger Correspondent FAIRFAX—Imogene Collins was born when the automobile was just beginning to become popular in American culture—in the first decade of the 20th century.
The prolific mode of transportation is something the soon-to-be centenarian became enamored with as a young girl and enjoyed the pleasure of driving for the majority of her life, until her wheels were spirited away. But fortunately, not this spry lady's spirit with them.
"We moved to Enosburg (from Fairfield) and we lived on Main Street," said Collins of her life growing up. 'And there were two or three cars that would come down (the road). I was taken right in with those cars, oh my yes!"
Imogene, the matriarch of five generations of the Collins family, has lived in Fairfax more than half of her life. She will turn 100 on Sunday.
Imogene and husband Owen Collins had nine children. The well-known family has since mushroomed into 38 grandchildren, 67 great-grandchildren, and 12 great-great grandchildren. It is easy to imagine that Collins had reason to do a lot of driving over the years.
She says that "the girls," referring to her daughters Tish and Mary wanted her to stop driving at age 90 and this is the reason she no longer has a car.
"They kept telling me they didn't want me driving. Of course, I kept on driving," she says with a little laugh. "I didn't have any accidents or anything, but, oh, they worried about me! I went different places; of course Burlington wasn't like it is now. I went there some time. Anytime I felt like I wanted to go, I'd go."
Collins marvels at the fact that she has lived this long and says she is the only one in her family (the Roddys) to have done so, noting that her parents and sibling lived into their eighties.
She feels that the last few years have gone fast and attributes her health and longevity to keeping busy. As a farm wife and mother of nine, she was very busy.
She has been an avid Boston Red Sox fan since the third grade, when she met future hall of famer Larry Gardner (whose parents lived next door to the Roddy family in Enosburg Falls). She watches games on TV and laughs as she says that some of her sons are fans of "the other (New York Yankees.).
Collins says baseball is a sport her children also enjoyed playing. "The girls were just as bad as the boys," she said, pointing out that the family was always around sports while they lived on the farm that they owned for many years on Buck Hollow Road.
She says she has always been an active person from the time she was a child, referring to herself as a 'tom-boy.' She contrasts herself to her sister, who according to Collins, was very much the opposite.
"When people get to be 80 or so, they sit down. I kept going," she muses on her longevity and good health. "I used to be out helping them draw hay and things like that. When my husband was sick, he couldn't go to the fields or anything like that, so I helped out."
She admires some tomatoes growing in a pot off her back porch and gazes out at her manicured lawn—the view of the mountain spectacular from this angle.
Collins says she now passes her time knitting, crocheting, or tending to her flower gardens. But no longer has a vegetable garden. "Oh, I can't do that anymore," she says regarding tending a vegetable patch. "Well, I could, but they told me that it's just as cheap to buy what I need." The revered "they" of the vegetables are the same guardian angels of driving safety.
She also doesn't get out in the hay field these days, although one senses that she might if given the chance; like having that car in the yard would give her cause to take a drive.
"I wouldn't go very far now, just into Fairfax," she attempts to convince, as though making a case to get her wheels back. "They just said, 'We came and got the car,' they didn't want me driving anymore."
Collins isn't upset about the loss of this bit of independence; she smiles and says matter-of-factly, "If they wanted to do it then they can take me!
She admits to being treated to lunch by her chauffeurs and on this late summer afternoon, is looking forward to picking up a relative who is coming to visit for a few days, as Tish arrives for their weekly outing.
When asked what it feels like to turn 100…“I told them I was going to start all over again, beginning with number one,” said Collins with a grin and a little laugh. Imogene, if anyone could, it would be you.
