A lady that really deserves this honor
Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2007 4:40 am
Kingston woman is Queen for a Day at Disney World
By Kathryn Heidecker
Daily Freeman
Mary Berardi, 91, never dreamed she'd be plucked from a crowd of hundreds of people based on her looks.
But the lifelong Kingston resident got the surprise of a century when she was chosen to become a Queen for the Day last month at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla.
"That's a cute little woman," a Disney World employee, who approached her after dinner at Epcot Center, told her by way of explaining the selection process.
"I never expected it, at my age anyway," Berardi said.
For Berardi, the royal treatment meant she got to go to the front of the line at many of Disney's attractions, along with her son, the Rev. Thomas Berardi of Troy, and two friends who joined them for the trip.
The day after she was picked to be queen, another Disney employee spotted her waiting in line to see the musical, "Beauty and the Beast." Like a celebrity, Berardi was escorted past lines of waiting customers to exclusive front row seats. Then, at the conclusion of the performance, an actor called her onstage.
"This is Mary Berardi from Kingston and she is celebrating her 91st birthday," the performer told the audience of thousands. The crowd responded by chanting, "Go Mary! Happy Birthday," over and over, Berardi recalled. "I was laughing," she said.
Berardi said the trip was a belated present; she actually celebrated her 91st birthday Dec. 19.
The daughter of Anna and Fred Perry, Berardi was one of 19 children in a French-Irish family. After attending Kingston High School for a time, she dropped out of school to work in a shirt factory to help support her family.
Married at age 19, Berardi celebrated 60 years of marriage with her husband, Amelio Berardi, before he died in 1996.
Now retired from Rotron, she has seen Kingston go through many changes. She recalls gas prices at 39 cents a gallon and watching the local economic base shift from textiles and brick manufacturing to computer technology.
"I look back today and say, 'Where did those years go?' I've never seen life pass so fast," Berardi said.
The Disney trip, Berardi's fourth visit to the resort, was but a pit stop in an active life. Other favorite adventures include visits to Brazil, London, Switzerland, Ireland and Nova Scotia.
"I love to see how people live in other countries, but I've found we have the best country in the world," she said.
A mantelpiece at home displays a poster-size print of a grinning Berardi manning a sporty kayak on the Ogunquit River in Ogunquit, Maine, where she tried her luck at kayaking for the first time at 89.
Asked the secret of her longevity and zest for life, Berardi was quick to point out she exercises daily, doesn't smoke or drink, and eats "lots of vegetables."
But what keeps her motivated? "I just do my thing," she said with a laugh.
By Kathryn Heidecker
Daily Freeman
Mary Berardi, 91, never dreamed she'd be plucked from a crowd of hundreds of people based on her looks.
But the lifelong Kingston resident got the surprise of a century when she was chosen to become a Queen for the Day last month at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla.
"That's a cute little woman," a Disney World employee, who approached her after dinner at Epcot Center, told her by way of explaining the selection process.
"I never expected it, at my age anyway," Berardi said.
For Berardi, the royal treatment meant she got to go to the front of the line at many of Disney's attractions, along with her son, the Rev. Thomas Berardi of Troy, and two friends who joined them for the trip.
The day after she was picked to be queen, another Disney employee spotted her waiting in line to see the musical, "Beauty and the Beast." Like a celebrity, Berardi was escorted past lines of waiting customers to exclusive front row seats. Then, at the conclusion of the performance, an actor called her onstage.
"This is Mary Berardi from Kingston and she is celebrating her 91st birthday," the performer told the audience of thousands. The crowd responded by chanting, "Go Mary! Happy Birthday," over and over, Berardi recalled. "I was laughing," she said.
Berardi said the trip was a belated present; she actually celebrated her 91st birthday Dec. 19.
The daughter of Anna and Fred Perry, Berardi was one of 19 children in a French-Irish family. After attending Kingston High School for a time, she dropped out of school to work in a shirt factory to help support her family.
Married at age 19, Berardi celebrated 60 years of marriage with her husband, Amelio Berardi, before he died in 1996.
Now retired from Rotron, she has seen Kingston go through many changes. She recalls gas prices at 39 cents a gallon and watching the local economic base shift from textiles and brick manufacturing to computer technology.
"I look back today and say, 'Where did those years go?' I've never seen life pass so fast," Berardi said.
The Disney trip, Berardi's fourth visit to the resort, was but a pit stop in an active life. Other favorite adventures include visits to Brazil, London, Switzerland, Ireland and Nova Scotia.
"I love to see how people live in other countries, but I've found we have the best country in the world," she said.
A mantelpiece at home displays a poster-size print of a grinning Berardi manning a sporty kayak on the Ogunquit River in Ogunquit, Maine, where she tried her luck at kayaking for the first time at 89.
Asked the secret of her longevity and zest for life, Berardi was quick to point out she exercises daily, doesn't smoke or drink, and eats "lots of vegetables."
But what keeps her motivated? "I just do my thing," she said with a laugh.