Martha C. Smith has “Old Father Time” under her control.

Not only has the Baldwin resident been keeping open what is thought to be the oldest public library in Kansas for nearly 80 years, this week she is celebrating her 100th birthday.

Smith will reach the century mark Thursday, but the celebrating began over the weekend when friends and family members paid tribute to the spry little woman who continues to open Vinland’s Coal Creek Library for a few hours every Sunday afternoon from April to October.

“We think it is just super that she does what she does,” Smith’s nephew, Howard Hemphill, said Saturday afternoon during a family birthday party.

The party was held at the farm near Vinland where Smith grew up. The farmhouse where she was born still stands, and is now owned by her niece, Becky Browning, and her husband, Rockie Browning. Sunday morning during church service at the Vinland United Methodist Church, a special tribute was paid to Smith. Following the service, a reception was held for her and music in her honor was played by local musician Matt Kirby.

On Saturday, Smith was nonchalant about turning 100. She sat in a chair on the lawn at her family’s homestead next to her 96-year-old sister, Katharine Kelley. Nearby was a table with old photographs of Smith as a young girl and other family mementos, including a couple of items rescued from an ancestor’s Lawrence house, which was burned down by Quantrill’s raiders. The sisters are noted for their knowledge of history, relatives said.

“Anything you want to know about Baldwin or Vinland, those two can tell you,” Rockie Browning said. “They are very sharp.”

Helen Chanay, 99, Ottawa, left, and Martha Smith, 99, Baldwin, dance to a childhood song, Under

Walking and gardening

Smith has a simple explanation for her longevity: “Staying active,” she said, noting that every morning she takes a walk around the block at her Baldwin home.

“I get my half hour of sunshine and fresh air,” she said. “I pick up trash people leave behind.”

Smith also tends to a vegetable garden and performs a daily series of stretching exercises. She has even demonstrated those exercises at her church so others can reap their benefits.

“They keep you well,” she said. “I also eat fruits and vegetables. I used to eat gravy, but that made me terribly fat.”

In 1997, the Kansas Department of Human Resources and the Department of Aging presented Smith with the “Oldest Female Worker” award during a ceremony in Topeka. She’s still working. Her son, Edwin Smith, drives her to the Vinland library during the months it is open from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

The Coal Creek Library opened in 1859 thanks to the efforts of Smith’s ancestors and others. It started with 10 books and grew to its current 3,500 volumes. Smith, who began her library work in 1924 at the Lawrence Carnegie Library at Ninth and Vermont streets, took over the Vinland library in 1926.

Over the past several years, people have stopped checking out books there, but the library has become a sort of museum and historical shrine. A few visitors still stop by and Smith is there to greet them.

“It’s a social place,” she said. “I had a woman come in from California and she liked it so well she told somebody else in California to come – and she did.”

Not slowing down

Despite chronic back problems, some hearing decline and macular degeneration in her left eye, Smith considers herself in pretty good shape for someone reaching 100. She said she has no intention of ending her work at the library anytime soon.

She demonstrated her agility during Sunday’s church reception when she teamed with a former school classmate, Helen Chanay, also 99, for a dance at the front of the sanctuary.

During Saturday’s family celebration, three cakes were served. Two of them carried 50 candles each and the third cake bore an edible, scanned photo of Smith’s high school graduation picture.

“It was really nice,” Becky Browning said of reception and the weekend celebration. “Martha was so pleased.”