PHOTO BY BARB BARRETT/The Luminary Dorothy (Buck) Bingaman is the oldest living member from the Montgomery Alumni Association and just turned 100 on April 30th, 2015.

WILLIAMSPORT – On June 30 Dottie Bingaman from Montgomery will be exactly 100 years old and and two months towards 101. For on April 30, 2015 she celebrated her 100th birthday. Her peers describe her as a “very amazing woman.”

She grew up on a farm in Clinton Township and graduated from the class of 1934 at Montgomery High School. She is the longest living member of the Montgomery Alumni Association. She said she regretted not being able to attend the the alumni banquet held June 19, but a note that she wrote was read by Leona DeWalt to the winning Montgomery High School seniors who received scholarships from the Alumni Association. She told them, “Reach for the stars, dream and enjoy your college days,” said the centurion.

Bingaman said she contributes her longevity to just being raised in the country and the “good graces of the Lord.”

She currently resides at the Williamsport Home in an apartment where she likes to tend to her flowers, some orchids and a small yard. She said she still walks as much as she can, although a bad fall now causes her to use a walker which she indicated was not to her liking since she has been used to moving on her own without it.

“Things do slow you down,” she commented never realizing she would live past 100. “I never thought how long I would live. I just take each day as it comes,” she replied.

Bingaman said she did a lot of volunteer work for many years before she fell and broke her hip a few years ago.

After high school she went to work in a shirt factory. “I always did a lot of walking and exercise and did yoga until age 70. I still do some of the postures,” she added.

She also mentioned that she received 83 birthday cards for her 100th birthday. Happily she said, “I didn’t realize that many people knew me.”