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Mom, 100 today, will have a big party By MEG LANDERS Mail Tribune Helen Kenaston has a lot of heart. Or is that hearts? Born 100 years ago today on a farm in Valentine, Neb., Kenaston says the birthday gifts she receives often have a heart theme. But her children say she's the one who gives from her heart. "She's a great mother and she always took care of us and she was always there when we came home from school," says Laverne Ball, 80, the eldest of Kenaston's nine children. Born Helen Gordon, the eldest of six, she grew up on a cattle and horse farm on the outskirts of Valentine, a small ranching community that calls itself America's Heart City in north central Nebraska. "We were country people," she says. "We always lived on a farm." Her family moved to another farm in South Dakota when she was a teenager. At 19, she moved to Denver, where she met Willard R. Kenaston, a farmer. They married in Harrison, Neb., in 1921, began having children and moved to Oregon around 1947. The couple had nine children over 30 years. Willard died in 1967. Mrs. Kenaston, who now lives in a Medford retirement home, says that of all the changes she's seen in the past 100 years, the automobile is the biggest one. According to her son, Merle Kenaston, a 67-year-old Medford resident, his mother still reads three or four books a week and plays cards, dominoes and Scrabble. And she's no push-over when it comes to games. "You play Scrabble with her and she'll beat the pants off you," says Laverne, who flew in from Lakewood, Colo., to help celebrate her mother's birthday. All of the centenarian's surviving eight children are making the trip for their mother's special Valentine's Day. Mrs. Kenaston's two younger sisters, in their 90s, are also joining the festivities. "We've always maintained very close family ties," says Merle. With a couple of dinners and a party planned, the birthday girl will have 30 friends and family members helping her blow out candles. Mrs. Kenaston says she knows the key to living a long and healthy life: "Behave yourself," she says, "and try not to get in the newspaper." Reach reporter Meg Landers at 776-4481 or e-mail [email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.