Photograph by Louise Webb
Mary McGoldrick, 86, stays fit with aerobic classes three times a week.
I watched in awe as 86-year-old Mary McGoldrick practiced the macarena for part of the entertainment at the Fellowship Plaza, a senior retirement community. McGoldrick looked like the oldest dancer in the group.
"The others are much too slow for me," she whispered, as she energetically pranced across the floor.
McGoldrick is a petite size 6 and weighs less than 100 pounds. She takes aerobic classes at the Senior Center three times a week and an exercise class at the plaza twice a week, and she walks a lot.
"You've got to move," she advises. "It keeps you young. It's good for the body and helps you from cramping up."
McGoldrick wouldn't think of taking the elevator to go upstairs to her room. She often forgets it exists.
This vital woman grew up on an Irish farm and has worked hard all her life. She came to Massachusetts from Ireland in l930 and first worked as an upstairs maid at the governor's estate.
She was the head cook for a wealthy family of seven in Rye, N.Y., and met her husband, Owen, a milkman. They were married in 1939 and moved to White Plains, N,Y., and raised two daughters.
When her daughters were older, McGoldrick started her own catering business in New York City. She catered huge parties for movie stars and was known for her special mushroom-and-herb-filled canapes. Although McGoldrick is Irish, she says with a twinkle in her eye, "I made great gefilte fish for Hanukkah and Seder parties."
She knew Rosemary Clooney well and catered parties in her home. Frank Sinatra was her best tipper. After her husband died, she wanted to do something just for herself since she had worked hard all her life. She joined Fred Astaire's dance studio in New York and danced with Fred Astaire several times.
One of her daughters, Kathy McGoldrick, teaches special education at Saratoga's Redwood School and tutors. She and her mother returned last month from a cruise and family reunion. Kathy finds her mother's hard work and vitality inspirational. She says she likes going on trips with her mother because she is so open to new experiences.
Mary has lived at the Fellowship Plaza 17 years. She likes to play pokeno and bingo and keeps active. Up until June of last year, she drove to Sacred Heart Church daily.
Other News: The Saratoga Drama Group had E.J. Peaker as guest star at their recent SRO open house. Peaker played Minnie Fay in the movie Hello Dolly. A Grand Night for Singing will be playing at the Saratoga Civic Theater through Feb. 15. Call 264-3110 for tickets.
The American Cancer Society celebrated 50 years of service in Santa Clara County with a donor recognition dinner Feb. 5 at the Fairmont Hotel in San Jose. Saratoga co-chairs of the donor recognition committee were Gay Crawford and Brookes Brown.
The event recognized major donors and those who played a significant roll in cancer control efforts, Brown said.
Additional Saratogans on the 1997 donor recognition committee were Joan Bose, Jim Kirwan, Kathy Kroll and Debbie Simon.
Saratogans recognized at the dinner were Anita and Kevan Del Grande, Owen and Brokes Brown, Bonnie and Pat O'Connor and Roxanne and Dave Peterschmidt, who received the Excalibur Award for contributions to the Cancer Society.
The Chairman's Circle Award went to Ruth Benzing, Dr. W. Donald Head, Alan and Toni Pinn and Denise Moyles. Over 600 people attended the event.
This article appeared in the Saratoga News, February 12, 1997.
©1997 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.