One of our favorite ladies celebrated her 100th birthday recently, and a host of Angwin friends helped her celebrate in the Fireside Room.

Linnea lives by herself (that's kinda wonderful), although across the street from her daughter Mary Tillay. And she is active in the Neighborhood Table every Thursday (which means on your feet for four hours preparing veggies). And every Tuesday at the Angwin Community Services, patching and sewing clothes.

Linnea was born on April 20, 1905 in Sweden, along with her twin sister. The girls grew up on a small farm helping their mother milk cows, feed the chickens and pigs, and grow potatoes and rye grain. At the age of 13, their mother died of influenza (the 1918 epidemic).

It was necessary for the girls to leave school to stay at home and care for things. A year later, their father remarried. He then sold the farm and moved to a house on a farm where he worked. The girls never again felt that they had a home.

They worked in the gardens of the large farm, but any money they earned was given to their father. They had a bed in the hallway, but frequently were locked out of the house. Linnea’s great aunt saw the situation and wrote to her sister in Minnesota about the twins. These people were able to use one of the girls on their farm, so they sent a ticket for Linnea to come to America.

Linnea worked several years for the relatives to pay the cost of passage from Sweden to Minnesota. In time, she moved to Chicago to work in the home of a wealthy banker. The banker’s family was kind to her, but she never got used to living in a large city. A friend from Sweden living in Sandpoint, Idaho, invited Linnea to visit her and meet her brother, Ivar.

Linnea and Ivar Nord were married in 1926. They began their married life in Sandpoint, Idaho, but moved to Klamath Falls in 1929, and to Auburn, California, in 1940. Ivar and Linnea spent 53 years together. A few years after Ivar died, Linnea moved to Angwin to be closer to her daughter, Mary Tillay.

Her family and many Angwin friends have been blessed by her loving and hard-working example through the years.

The poppies and other wild flowers along James Creek, just this side of the bridge on the Pope Valley/Butts Canyon Road are spectacular. Lovely patches along Aetna Springs Road and James Creek Road, also.

Some wildflowers in Snell Valley, too.

Civic, educational and religious leaders are saying "Thanks" to hundreds of Angwin residents who have contributed $115,000 in a fund-raising campaign for those affected by the devastating tsunami which hit Southern Asia late in December of last year.

On a per-capita basis, this is an exceptionally generous effort.

The campaign was spearheaded by students of Pacific Union College who in one evening following their Christmas vacation started the campaign with donations totaling $6,000. Spurred by the students' example, residents throughout the Howell Mountain community joined in the activity.

The Angwin Community Services operation of the Pacific Union College Seventh-day Adventist Church, catching the spirit of the growing campaign, offered a $30,000 gift if it was matched by others in the community. The match was quickly made, and then an anonymous donor contributed $20,000. Students at the college added another $3,000 with additional gifts continuing.

"It was a magnificent example of a community coming together on behalf of a most worthy cause," said Dr. Pieter VandenHoven who gave stimulation and direction to the campaign. "Given that there are slightly more than 3,000 people in Angwin, the per capita giving represented in the total given is impressive."

VandenHoven said funds received are being sent to ADRA International, a highly recommended aid organization which began providing relief in the tsunami devastated countries only a few hours after the wave struck.