ROSELLE -- Mary Neander, a resident at the Abbington Rehab and Nursing Center in Roselle, was the guest of honor when the center celebrated her 100th birthday Feb. 18.

Neander was born in February 1907, in South Holland, Ill. Granddaughter Pam Lochhead and her husband Lee Brigham of Streamwood hosted the catered lunch for about 50 of Neander’s friends, relatives and Abbington residents.

Abbington’s diet manager Terri Schultz; Audrey Friedland, director of nursing; and Linda Chesney, activity assistant, took care of the party details.

I found the party going on in the first-floor lunchroom and was introduced to Neander by her granddaughter. Neander was enjoying lunch at her table with family and friends. They told me that Neander’s husband Arthur Neander came from a family of 14 boys. After Arthur’s parents passed away, Neander helped raise four or five of them as her own.

Neander, whose maiden name was Verway, came from a family of eight siblings, six sisters and two brothers. I understand that she was an excellent cook and also hand quilted at least 30 quilts in her lifetime. Arthur Neander was a supervisor with the Illinois Central Railroad and although the couple did not travel very much, they did visit Hawaii on two occasions.

Neander was employed by Nabisco in the cookie division but her life’s work was as a homemaker. She and Arthur were married for 50 years. Arthur passed away in 1987. Their only child, Sandra, passed away in 1994.

When I sat down for lunch I met Barbara Beach, a family friend and school chum of granddaughter Pam. Beach had spent about 10 years in New York pursuing an acting career in comedy roles mostly in new plays. When her parents became ill, she returned to Chicago where she did some voice-over work. She was with her friend Clyde Malecki. And I can not forget cousin Neil Verhagen who attended with his wife of 60 years, Carol. He reminisced how Neander used to bring cookies from her work home for friends and family. He also said she was the skinniest of all the kids. But evidently very healthy. Happy 100th birthday, Mary Neander.

Library happenings

Musical Sunday for February at the Roselle Public Library featured harpist Marysue Redmann.

Redmann is a native of Chicago and has played the harp for almost 25 years.

I have attended most of the Musical Sundays at the library and was pleasantly surprised at the size of the audience.

Redmann has a master’s degree in performing arts from Northwestern University and followed with two years of additional harp studies in Paris. She has played in orchestras, small ensembles and at Mayor Richard M. Daley’s inaugural ball.

Redmann performed a variety of tunes, including a medley of Beatles songs. We found out that a harp like Redmann’s costs from $25,000 to $35,000. She transports her harp on a dolly to her van with a weather resistant cover. A very interesting show. She closed with “A Moment Like This.”

The Itasca Community Library recently introduced a new type of audio book called Playaway. Playaway is actually a self playing digital audio book that comes pre-loaded on a storage type device. The unit controls are on the back side of the book and operate similar to a tape cassette.

At the present the Playaway is available in the children’s section of the library and is recommended for children in grades six and up. The library is hoping to bring the device to the adult section soon.

Works currently available on Playaways include “The Giver” by Lois Lowry and “Ink Heart” by Cornelia Funke. The Playaway can be checked out for three weeks like regular books. All you need to listen to a great book on Playaway is a set of standard headphones.

For more information call the library youth services desk at (630) 773-1699.

Until next time.

The Roselle-Itasca Beat is a weekly column appearing on Thursdays. Ideas and items for the column can be faxed to Ed Obrochta at (630) 894-4251 or e-mailed to eobrochta@sbcglobal.net.