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Caption: Resident Audrey Shepard (middle) celebrates her 100th birthday with close friends Ralph “Bud” Scofield and his wife Judy during a party at The Green Home.
WELLSBORO, PA—In a party full of laughter and reminiscing, Audrey Shepard, a resident at The Green Home, celebrated her 100th birthday on Saturday, July 28. Shepard exclaims “I didn’t expect such an extravaganza!” after a packed room finishes a rousing chorus of “Happy Birthday” to her and her good friend Ralph “Bud” Scofield, who turned 80 on the same day.
Scofield and Shepard have been fast friends since they were young, and on her 99th birthday, he promised to be back with a fancy cake to commemorate her 100th. Scofield jokes, “the first time she saw my picture was on the wall at the post office,” prompting laughter from Shepard as she adds, “Isn’t he a devil?”
Born in the Gaines area, Shepard headed to red rock country for several years to make a home in Arizona—the site of one of her favorite accomplishments: a big win in billiards. “I just live for pool,” Shepard explains, “I said to myself, ‘I’m gonna win, and that’s all there is to it,’ and I won the state tournament in Arizona!”
On her 70th birthday, her husband Roland “Sheppy” Shepard asked her what she wanted for her birthday. “I told him, ‘I can’t think of a thing—I already have everything I want,’ and he insisted there must be something—so he bought me a Yamaha motorcycle! I rode it for years all up and down the hills in the Marsh Lands in Gaines, PA.”
Over the weekend, she celebrated the milestone with close friends and fellow residents, enjoying punch, decorative cakes, and a special floral arrangement. “I must admit, for the most part, my life has been a bowl of cherries,” she says with a smile.
Shepard currently resides at The Green Home, a nonprofit, skilled nursing home providing both short-term rehabilitation services and long-term care services for residents of Tioga County and the surrounding communities. Located in downtown Wellsboro, TGH offers around-the-clock professional nursing services; rehabilitation services including speech, occupational, and physical therapy; medical social work and counseling services; nutrition services; podiatry services; radiology services; dentistry; and a variety of activities and recreational programs.
For more information on The Green Home, call (570) 724-3131, or visit www.laurelhs.org.