MANCHESTER-BY-THE-SEA — Age may be just a concept but her years have led to Carolyn Anderson being singled out to receive the town’s Boston Post Cane award — issued to Manchester’s most senior resident for more than a century.
Last Monday, Aug. 24, town officials visited Anderson at her home to award her with the town’s Boston Post Cane, a presentation that followed her 100th birthday in June.
“The town was honored to present Carolyn Anderson with the Boston Post Cane, for the second year in a row, as the eldest resident in Manchester-by-the-Sea,” Town Administrator Tony Barletta said. He said she was also presented with a citation from the town.
Select Board Chair John Round presented the cane to Anderson. Also on hand were other Select Board members and representatives from the Manchester Council on Aging. Barletta said it was a small but spirited gathering.
Select Board Vice Chair Catherine Bilotta said those gathered heard how Anderson has maintained her good health and spirits.
“She mentioned being an avid walker in past years,” Bilotta said.
Barletta said the Anderson’s cane is a replica of the original kept at the Manchester-by-the-Sea Historical Museum.
Mike Chapman, former president of the Manchester Elder Brethren, served as president when the Boston Post Cane was transferred from that group to the town. The Elder Brethren, which dates to 1878, meets each year “to enjoy food, fellowship and community” at an annual picnic and lunch — known historically as the “Old Man’s Chowder Party.”
“The Elder Brethren will award a similar cane at their annual picnic on Sept. 12 at Tuck’s Point,” he said. “That cane was generously donated by the Hood family.”
The Boston Post Cane is a New England tradition started back in 1909 by Edwin Grozier, publisher of the former Boston Post newspaper. Originally, 700 canes were issued to New England towns to honor their oldest residents. The ebony cane is topped in 14-carat gold and embossed with the words “Presented by The Boston Post to the Oldest Citizen” of the specific town.
Originally designed for men only, the awarding of the cane was opened to women recipients in 1930.
The history of the cane is that it is be used by the recipient as long as they lived or until they moved from the town. The canes were all made in 7-foot lengths by J.F. Fradley and Co., a New York manufacturer, from wood grown in the Congo.