Joan Kaak and her family weren’t about to let her 90th birthday go uncelebrated.
The Orillia woman bundled up and took a seat on her front lawn Saturday with husband Harry as friends and family drove by to wish her a happy birthday.
“It’s quite interesting,” she said of the way the celebration had to take place due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “It’s something new.”
“We had no other way of doing it with the restrictions and whatnot, but you just can’t let something like this pass,” added her son, Harry, Jr.
Her daughter, Mary Bax, helped organize the celebration.
“It’s very important to recognize my mother reaching 90 years of age,” she said. “It’s just too bad that we can’t do something more, but COVID is what COVID is.”
The silver lining is the family got to celebrate Joan’s big day on her birthday. Their gatherings in previous years were on different days because everyone was busy with Halloween. Joan didn’t mind. She’s always been happy to let the day be about the kids so they can enjoy Halloween, and she even made costumes for her seven children when they were younger.
Joan, the third of her parents’ 10 kids, lived in Holland during the Nazi occupation in the Second World War. She moved to Canada with her first husband in 1954.
Those who reach milestone birthdays like Joan’s are often asked what their secret is. Joan’s is simple.
“Keeping busy,” she said. “I was always kept busy with seven kids. I still keep busy, as much as I can.”
