WIN McDonald said she felt "no different" on reaching her 100–year milestone yesterday.
"I don't feel like a 100–year–old, though I'm not really sure how a 100–year–old is supposed to feel," she said with a smile.
The centenarian enjoyed afternoon tea with family and friends on Saturday as a pre–cursor to the main event, and said she'd been showered with birthday greetings and flowers on her big day.
Win was looking forward to lunch in Wangaratta's CBD with Melbourne–based daughter Julie Duggan as she spoke to the Wangaratta Chronicle in the garden surrounds of St Catherine's, where she's currently enjoying respite care.
Genes for long life would seem to have been on Win's side, as her parents Marie and George Morgan both lived into their 90s – though as the youngest of the Whitfield couple's nine children, Win is the first to reach the 100–year mark.
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Born and bred in Whitfield, Win said she had loved growing up and raising children Julie and Terry in the area with husband Wilf, whose general carrying business was based in the township.
"I loved the sense of community," she said.
Julie said her mum had been very involved in that community.
She is a life member of the Red Cross and the RSL women's auxiliary, and was a keen supporter of the King Valley Football Club while living in the district.
She also follows North Melbourne and Melbourne in the AFL.
"She's a very social person," Julie said.
"She was very involved in sport, including tennis, and was a good bowler, joining Moyhu Bowls Club and representing the state a couple of times."
Win said she had loved meeting lots of different people through her involvement in bowls, and several fellow former bowlers were among those who gathered for Win's birthday celebration on Saturday.
The event was held at the hall at The Terrace, where Win has lived since Wilf passed away 16 years ago; the couple had moved to Wangaratta from Whitfield a number of years before.
Family, including Julie and Milawa resident Terry, were also among the 65 people who attended Saturday's celebration, and Win, a grandmother of four and great–grandmother of three, said it had been very special to be surrounded by them as she marked her birthday.
