“I'm 100 years young,” she said at Thursday's 2007 Senior Olympics at the Scioto County Fairgrounds.
After partaking in the opening ceremony, Mann set off to play bingo.
But first she had to answer a question she hears a lot - how does one live to be 100?
“I can't tell,” she said. “I don't know. The only thing is, I only drink a lot of juice and I drink Ensure. I've never smoked and never used alcohol. But I can't tell you my secret.”
While the Olympics started eight years ago, Mann was making her first visit.
“This is great,” she said. “They wanted me to come to light the torch.”
When not at the Olympics, Mann said she likes to play euchre and bingo.
Euchre is a card game.
Mann said she spent much of her life as a housewife and manager of a girls' home.
“And I worked at JC Penney,” she said. “Other than that, though, I was mostly a housewife. I've enjoyed life. I've had a good life and I can thank the good Lord for that.”
Mann has obviously seen a lot in her 100 years. So how much has the world changed in the past 75 years or so?
“Oh my goodness,” she said. “I can't hardly tell you that. When I first went to school, the school bus was horse-drawn. They used a little coal stove to heat it. But everything has progressed.”
Mann said the world is better now than in her youth. She probably knows a lot about the world, since she has traveled extensively.
“We went to Mexico, Canada, New York and different places like that,” Mann said.
Despite her age, Mann may have another trip in her.
“I've always wanted to go to Australia, but I never got there,” she said. “But you never can tell.”
JEFF BARRON can be reached at (740) 353-3101, ext. 236.
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