MOUNT GILEAD —A Morrow County woman is hoping to surprise her father on his 100th birthday with a celebratory drive-by parade of family, friends, and well-wishers..
Ralph Gordon will turn 100 on April 30. He is a resident of Woodside Village Care Center, 841 West Marion Road.
The drive-by is planned for 1:30 p.m. next Thursday, April 30.
Gordon’s daughter, Diane Cagnon, has been in touch with Morrow County Sheriff John Hinton, as well as Mount Gilead Mayor Mike Porter and a grand celebration is planned with a fire truck leading the way.
“They are going to bring my dad out to the end of the driveway so he’ll be close to Stat Route 95,” she said. “He’s a World War II veteran and he was in demolition. I’m the youngest of three children. My brother Rodney Gordon lives in Smithsville, North Carolina and my older sister is Donna.
“He lives Wooodside,” Cagnon noted. “Someone told me we should have a drive by parade to celebrate and I thought “why not?’ We were supposed to have a a great big party for him, and it all got cancelled. So we just decided to do the drive-by parade.
“The more the merrier. Just come and wave and make a fuss. We have a rain date ,which is May 2, also at 1:30. We’re inviting anybody and everybody. Just join us and make some noise. Edison Bible Church is just right down the road and that’s going to be our meeting place. That way when we come eastbound, we will be on his side of the road.
“I hope he enjoys it because, gee whiz, who gets to turn 100 these days,’ Cagnon said. “This is going to be a big surprise and the nursing home is holding all his birthday cards. The last time I checked he had 126 to open.”
