About the Cover

Young at Heart

James Rada, Jr.

If only we could all be so active and energetic.

At 97 years old, Sylvia Bloom, of Monterey Pass, plays golf three times a week, bowls twice a week, and plays bridge, just to name a few of her activities. She also shows no signs of letting up. Besides her sports, she also continues driving and living on her own.

“When I get up every morning, I thank God for each day,” she said.

She has been playing golf for 50-plus years.

“I’m still not good at it, but I keep trying,” she said.

Duke Martin disagrees. He is married to Sylvia’s niece and golfs with her. “She has a mean short game,” he said. “She can beat me at putts.”

As for her bowling, she rolled a 203 this year for the first time, which included five strikes in a row.

Something else she enjoys is participating as a member of the Blue Ridge Garden Club. She has been a member for 44 years and has served in every office.

“I love flowers!” she said. “I pot my summer flowers and bring them in my heated garage for the winter. In the cold months of winter, I can still garden and take care of my blooming plants and enjoy them.”

Sylvia enjoys all her activities, as well as the people she spends time with doing them.

“If you said you have to give up one of them, I wouldn’t know which one to give,” she said.

Sylvia was born on May 1, 1927, to Romanian immigrants who first settled in Harrisburg, moving to Waynesboro when Sylvia was 13.

In 1948, Sylvia went to watch her brother play a game of pick-up football in Memorial Park one evening. Dick saw her and walked over, said hello, and asked her out on the spot. He was a World War II veteran whom she thought was handsome and nice. Sylvia accepted the date, and they went out the next evening.

They were married on April 9, 1949. Although they both came from big families—Dick was one of 12 siblings and Sylvia was one of 11—they didn’t want a big family. They had two children, Cindy (born in 1954) and Howard (born in 1955). She also now has two grandchildren and a great-grandchild.

While they got along great, there was a slight hitch in their relationship. Dick lived in Monterey Pass, and he didn’t have a car. He had to walk and hitchhike seven miles to see Sylvia.

“Most of the time, people would pick him up, but a couple of times, he walked the entire seven miles,” recalled Sylvia.

Bloom has lived in Monterey Pass since 1954 in a house her husband, Dick, built for them from a horse barn. They were looking for a home, and he showed her the barn. He said he could build a house out of it, and she trusted him and said, “Okay.” Dick spent two years building the house, doing the masonry, wiring, and plumbing himself. Although it no longer looks like a barn, the old water trough is still in front of the house, marking its heritage.

Dick passed away five years ago, but family and friends keep Sylvia from feeling lonely, as she looks forward to becoming a centenarian in a few years.

Sylvia Bloom, of Monterey Pass, turns 97, with no plans of slowing down anytime soon.

Syliva Bloom bowls twice a week.