COCHRANE— Bethany Care resident Norma Burt will be celebrating a major milestone on Friday (Jan. 22), when she turns 100.
“It’s quite a milestone, alright,” said Burt with a chuckle. “But I’ve been climbing the hill for a long time.”
Burt said of turning 100 that she doesn’t feel as old as the calendar says she is.
“I can’t believe that it’s just like another day for me. I don’t feel old,” she said. “I feel older, but I don’t feel old.”
Burt, a good-natured woman who is full of warmth and laughter, is a self-described people person.
She contributes her longevity to her great family life and positive outlook on life.
“I had, you know, way back, I had good parents and grew up well and happy. I had a good marriage, and my kids have all been good. My family is just super, my friends are lovely. It all helps in my attitude toward life, I think,” she said. “I don’t think there’s a bad one in the bunch.”
Burt has seen the world change in countless ways over the course of her lifetime, from modes of transportation and communication to the way kids socialize and play games.
“We used to play Hopscotch and Ring Around the Rosie. Now, what do they do? Use their phones,” she said with a laugh.
But all of the changes Burt has seen over the course of her life, she said, have been mostly good.
“Change is always good if it’s good,” she said.
The centenarian spends her days at Bethany Care visiting with friends and family, staying active, reading and playing the piano— A hobby she’s kept up since she was eight years old.
She also used to sing.
In 1954 Burt got involved with the globe-trotting Sweet Adelines International, a barbershop-style chorus, for roughly 40 years.
“I’ve always had music in my life. I do play once in a while around here, but not too often,” she said. “My mother was very musical too— She came from a musical family. She sang so she helped me out a lot.”
With the Sweet Adelines, Burt travelled all over Canada and the United States competing with the chorus.
That’s not her only claim to fame.
Her and her husband were also the founders and owners of a long-standing landmark in Calgary.
Burt’s Store on 50th Avenue and Elbow Drive in Calgary was founded in 1946. At that time, the shop was just outside of the city limits of Calgary.
Burt would help out around the store, which was eventually sold. The new owners maintained the name, Burt’s Store until it was eventually torn down for development in 2013.
Before helping out at the iconic corner store, Burt was also a teacher for two years during the Second World War from 1940 to 1942.
She taught Grades 1 to 7, all in the same room.
“That’s another thing that’s changed,” she said. “That old school that I taught in was torn down.”
In 1942, Burt came to Calgary, with her husband, Austin Burt.
The two married while Austin was on military leave during that Christmas, and stayed together for 40 years until his passing in 1982.
Burt’s daughter, Linda Marcial, said that she’s been planning a special celebration for her mother she calls “12 days of Norma,” where she’s organized a special event or visit from someone special in her mother’s life for 12 days around her birthday.
“Every day I’ve set up either a window visit or a Zoom or Face Time call with someone special in mom’s life,” Marcial said. “We’re doing that up to her birthday, but I can’t tell you anymore because it’s a surprise.”
Burt said that the staff of Bethany also has plans for a celebration, and to decorate her room.
When asked what advice she would offer the youth of today, Burt said to keep a positive outlook, try as best you can to follow the rules, stay healthy and exercise and stay close to your family.
“That’s all going to help to climb that hill, and it’s a long hill to climb,” she said
