Lanett senior celebrates her 90th birthday

Published 9:53 am Saturday, July 27, 2024

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

LANETT — Jewel Nelloms got some queen-for-a-day treatment at the Lanett Senior Center on Tuesday and for good reason. It was her 90th birthday.

“We want to make it really special for our seniors when they make it to age 90,” explained Senior Center Manager Sandra Thornton. “We reached out to some local event planners to help us with this, and we want to thank them for their cooperation.”

Nelloms was pleased to have lots of photographs of her seated in a chair that would be fit for a queen.

Email newsletter signup

It was provided by Fabulous Creations, a local business owned by Xavier and Melissa Joseph of Valley.

The tall white chair is perfect for a birthday celebration. It even has “Happy Birthday!” appearing in script letters at the top.

A lovely backdrop made of soft pastel colors and adorned with many celebratory balloons was behind the queen’s chair.

It was provided by Crystal Staples of Fluffi Flamingo of Valley. The pink and rose gold balloons were provided by Ouida Bailey of Lanett.

The backdrop colors of deep pink, light pink, silver and deep purple were most appealing.

“We appreciate all of our seniors, but those who are still active in their nineties are really special and we want to treat them that way,” Thornton said.

The seniors very much enjoyed slices of Jewel’s birthday cake and the other treats that came on this special day. April and Corey Ross of Bee TV made that possible.

Helping serve Jewel and her senior friends were Tonya Morris of the Lambda Zeta Omega chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha, the oldest sorority for African American professional women. Its alumni include Kamala Harris.

Jewel especially liked having her picture taken seated in that gorgeous chair. Professional photographers Kathy Grady and Joann Carlisle were among those taking her photos.

Carlisle is a breast cancer survivor. She calls her business One in Eight Photography.

That name gets across the point that one out of eight women will get breast cancer in their lifetimes. Early detection and treatment are the keys to survival.

Willie Jewel Nelloms was born to Neal and Ella Nelloms on July 23, 1934.

Jewel has lived in Lanett all her life. She has one son, Johnny Nelloms, six grandchildren, 10 great grandchildren and five great great grandchildren. She is quite proud to be the matriarch of her family.

“I am so happy to see this day,” she said, “and I am so grateful to have lived to see five generations of my family.”