Farm Girl 101: Mabel Wheeler tops the century mark

Friends and family of Mabel Wheeler gathered for a pair of parties last weekend to mark the farm girl’s 101st birthday. Ms. Wheeler was born Jan. 29, 1911. She celebrated with a rip-roaring party Saturday at the Cederberg Barn north of Colfax and Sunday with her friends and neighbors at the Courtyard.

More than 60 guests attended Mabel’s Cederberg party, which included fiddle playing and the first annual Mabel Wheeler pool tournament which drew 22 contestants.

Ms. Wheeler was born Mabel French and was raised alongside 15 siblings in the Moscow mountains. She worked as a cook and housekeeper for farm families until meeting and marrying James Alva (Al) Wheeler in 1935.

The couple worked for big area farm families like the McCroskeys and LaFollettes.

They had three children, daughters Marie Kallenberger, Colfax, Barbara Belala, Davenport and son James Wheeler, La Grande, Ore.

Al used to serenade Mabel with his fiddle, so it was fitting that Colfax fiddler Kiyomi Niehenke fired up her fiddle and bow to entertain the celebrants at both the Cederberg and Courtyard parties.

Niehenke played the “Tennessee Waltz,” “Happy Birthday,” and “My Wild Irish Rose,” which Ms. Wheeler had specially requested.

Relatives came from as far away as San Francisco, Seattle, Buhl, Idaho, and LaGrande, Ore.

The birthday cake, prepared by Memorable Events of St. John, was almond white topped with a dozen pink rose buds and two candles, one marking a century, one marking a year.