Centenarian casts her vote

#MIDDLEBURY

Dorothy Reynolds, left, greets Pat Dwyer, far right, and Ginny Guglielmo, behind Dwyer, as she signs in to vote Tuesday, the day before her 100th birthday. Reynolds said she never misses a vote. (Marjorie Needham photo)

By MARJORIE NEEDHAM

The day before her 100th birthday, Middlebury resident Dorothy “Dottie” Reynolds made sure she got to the polls to vote in the Special Election. Reynolds was born three years before women in the United States were allowed to vote, and she said, “I remember my mother making a big thing of voting.”

When we sat down to chat after she voted, Reynolds said, “I have never missed.” She said she thinks voting is important because it makes her feel she has a say in things. “This is just a small vote,” she said, “but it is important.”

Dorothy Reynolds celebrates her 100th birthday a day after voting in Middlebury’s special election. (Marjorie Needham photo)

Reynolds has gotten to know many people in town during the 66 years she has lived here. During her career, she taught nursery school, kindergarten and finally, after earning her master’s degree, third grade. She taught at Mary I. Johnson and Shepardson. She also led a Girl Scout troop. “Every place I go, I meet somebody I know,” she said.

Pat Dwyer said Reynolds was her son Bill’s kindergarten teacher. “She was the sweetest teacher ever, just lovely,” Dwyer said.

Ginny Guglielmo remembered having Reynolds as her Girl Scout leader and meeting in Reynolds’ home on Three Mile Hill Road.

With a twinkle in her blue eyes, Reynolds leaned closer and confided that about five years before you turn 100, people start giving you a lot of loving. People come up to you and want to shake your hand. They bring their babies to you and ask you to hold them in hopes their babies will have a long life like you.

While we were talking, First Selectman Ed St. John stopped in, gave her a kiss and wished her a happy birthday. And when we were walking out of Shepardson Center, a total stranger, when told Reynolds would be 100 on Wednesday, promptly kissed her on the cheek, wished her a happy birthday and said, “God bless you.”

Reynolds came to Connecticut from Virginia when she was in eighth grade. That’s when her father, an expert in faux fur, came to Watertown to head up Princeton Knitting Mills. She said it was quite a change from Virginia, where her mother followed the tradition of carrying calling cards and visiting with other ladies.

She said, “I’ve had a wonderful life. I have a sense of humor, and I think that helps.”