COLRAIN — The world was very different 99 years ago — Calvin Coolidge was president, Charles Lindbergh completed the first solo non-stop transatlantic flight from New York to Paris, and on July 16, Colrain resident Thelma Ramona James was born.
James — who goes by her middle name — was joined by family, friends and members of the Colrain Selectboard on Thursday on the back porch of her daughter Cindy Churchill’s house for food, celebration and the presentation of a proclamation declaring her to be the town’s oldest resident.
“They’re giving you a plaque because you are the oldest person in town,” Churchill told her mother. “There’s nobody older than you in town right now. You’re the bigwig on the block.”
While the original Boston Post gold-headed ebony cane that belonged to the town of Colrain has been lost for many years, James made do with her own yellow cane while being presented with a proclamation from the Selectboard. In addition to the proclamation, which will remain with her, James’ name was added to a plaque of Boston Post cane recipients that will forever sit in the Colrain Town Offices.
Boston Post canes were distributed to communities across Massachusetts, as well as other New England states, in the early 1900s by the Boston Post newspaper under the direction of Publisher Edwin A. Grozier, with each cane being given to the respective town’s oldest male citizen. According to the Boston Post Cane Information Center, eligibility for the cane was expanded to women in 1930.
As the years went by, some of the canes were lost, taken out of town or not returned to the Selectboard, leaving fewer communities still in possession of a cane.
“As the oldest member of the town of Colrain, we wanted to present you with an award,” Selectboard member Emily Thurber told James. “We’d like to present you with this proclamation from the Selectboard, and the Golden Cane award. … Everyone’s here to celebrate you, and that plaque hangs in the Town Offices for everyone to see.”
Much of James’ family was in attendance, however, those who could not be there in person joined remotely. According to Churchill, their family is spread out across the country and even overseas, with family members living “shore to shore.”
Thurber read from part of the document that will decorate the wall at Churchill’s house.
“Whereas Thelma R. James, a resident of the town of Colrain, born on July 16, 1927, and is 99 years of age,” Thurber read. “Whereas, the town of Colrain Selectboard proclaims Thelma R. James as the oldest citizen of the town of Colrain, whereas the Selectboard presents Thelma R. James with the Boston Post cane award.
“Therefore be it proclaimed by the town of Colrain Selectboard and do hereby call upon all citizens to recognize Thelma R. James as the oldest citizen of Colrain,” Thurber continued.
James is originally from the Caribbean island nation of Antigua, and has lived with her daughter for the past five years. Churchill described James as “full of pep.”
“The lady is like a rubber band, she’s bouncing back,” Churchill said. “She’s slowing down a whole lot, but she’s always been someone with a lot of energy.”
When asked if she had any advice on living a long life, James offered a simple platitude.
“Live as if God is alive,” she said.
