- April 19, 2024
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Ormond Beach's Betty Rush spent her 102nd birthday last week partying with the Tomoka Duplicate Bridge Club.
BY WAYNE GRANT | STAFF WRITER
Two to three times per week, until about two years ago, Betty Rush would drive her red Cadillac from her beachside condo, where she lives independently, to the Ormond Beach Senior Center to play a few rounds of bridge. And even though she no longer drives, Rush still made it out to the center Aug. 25, to celebrate her 102nd birthday with the Tomoka Duplicate Bridge Club.
Looking at Rush, though, you would probably guess she's at least 20 years younger.
“It keeps your mind going,” she said of bridge. “It keeps me out there with people.”
Originally from Pittsburgh, Rush moved to Deland with her family in 1925. She learned to play bridge in high school.
“We love having her,” said Ruth Gras, vice-president of the club.
“She’s a brilliant player,” added Sally Roberts, club president.
Rush remembers life in the 1920s and says that it was good, until the 1930s, when the depression hit. And it hit Volusia County especially hard.
“The area depended on tourists,” she said. “When the depression came, they just stopped coming. People here had a really bad time.”
After attending Florida State University, she taught school for eight years and then quit after getting married to raise her two children. She moved to the Ormond Beach area in 1966.
She has also been active in civic organizations, such as Meals on Wheels.
“When she joined an organization, she was always elected president,” her daughter, Betsy, said.
Rush also does crossword puzzles and knits booties and caps for newborn babies for donation to the hospital.
“I’ve made about 2,000 of them,” Rush said. “I like to knit while I’m watching TV.”
Walking without aid, Rush's only ailment, according to her daughter, is some arthritis in her hands. The only complaint she has is the loss of her driving privileges last year.
“All I need is transportation,” she said.
But Rush gets by. She said Votran is very good and her daughter lives only 13 miles away.
Asked what the best times she remembered were, she said, “All of the years were good times for me.”
She even played tennis until age 78 and says she always had good health.
“I never had a broken bone,” she added.
Her daughter said her mother never dwelled on unpleasant things and she jokes that eating peanut butter keeps her stuck together.
Her daughter is her bridge partner and says they do very well.
“Last week, we scored above average,” she said.
