Chester names new Post Cane holder

By Julie Huss
Staff writer

May 16, 2008 10:02 am

—

CHESTER — She loves to fill the bird feeders near her living room window and watch the bright yellow dandelions button down through the green grass.

For Alice Renaud, living life along a quiet road in Chester is all she ever wanted, "out of the way and on a hill." From a chair in her Haverhill Road home, she watches nature outside and spends her days with a positive attitude about life and an abundant sense of humor.

Renaud, 92, received a replica of the Boston Post Cane on May 10, honored as Chester's oldest living resident.

The Boston Post Cane began as a marketing program by the Boston Post newspaper in 1906. Between then and 1909, the newspaper gave 431 ebony canes to New England communities to be awarded to oldest living residents. Only men received the canes until 1930, then women had the chance, too. Awarding the cane has become a New England tradition in the years since.

"Isn't that something?" Renaud remarked when asked how she felt about receiving the cane. "I guess I can boss anyone around."

Town officials visited Renaud at her home to award her the cane, flowers, and to congratulate the longtime resident for her many years.

Those years include raising a family, including five children, and finding that perfect home in Chester in 1959.

"I wanted a front lawn," Renaud recalled. "The whole field across the street was cows and horses. I just love this town."

She was born Alice Hoyt in Haverhill, Mass., in 1915 and suffered great losses at an early age. Her mother died when she was only 18 months old. She went to live with a maternal grandmother, who then died when Alice was 4. She eventually lived with a paternal grandparent until her father remarried.

Renaud married her husband, Arthur, who landed in the military and moved his family several times before settling in Chester.

Children grew up and moved off and after her husband died, Renaud was able to spend many winters in Ecuador with son Allan and his wife, Carolyn, who were in South America working as missionaries. She spent time with her son and daughter-in-law at the beach while it snowed in New England. Now retired, the couple live with Renaud in Chester.

"She would sit under palm trees with her lemonade," Allan Renaud said, adding his mother would send tropical photos of herself to all her friends back home, "to make them jealous."

Now Renaud enjoys sitting near her window watching over the blooming apple trees blooming and those dandelions multiplying. As the next in a long history of cane holders, she is content with her place in Chester's history.

Chester's first Post Cane holder was John Hazelton in 1909. The town's original cane was misplaced during the 1960s and when finally recovered, it was placed in the safe keeping of the Chester Historical Society.

In 2001, Chester began the tradition of awarding a replica of the cane to the town's oldest resident, so the original wouldn't be lost or damaged. The first recipient to receive a replica was Urquhart Chinn, who died in 2005 at the age of 102. It then went to Evelyn Noyes, 104, who died last December.

"Oh, maybe I should put shoes on," Renaud said as she gazed down at her handmade, crocheted slippers in shades of blue and white. Planning for another photo with her new cane might call for a regular pair of shoes, she added.

Renaud enjoys not only the company of her son and daughter-in-law, but her other children, plus 15 grandchildren and about 17 great-great grandchildren who are scattered around the world as part of her extended family.

Being the current cane holder is a great privilege, Renaud said, happy to be noted in the books as the oldest living resident. She said she "feels great" and is still up to date with her driver's license, now renewed until the year 2011.

Her secrets to a long life could include any number of things. Getting a good night's sleep could be one, or never taking a drink or smoking a cigarette, she said.

Her son, Allan, said it's his mother's outlook on life and upbeat personality that keep her feeling fit and young. Add an abundance of positive thinking and good humor, and Renaud said it's a healthy combination.

"Well, you don't worry," Renaud said. "It gives you gray hair."

Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.