Friday, February 22, 2008 6:51 PM CST
A Leap in Time: Area residents share unique day for celebrations
By DAWN SCHABBING, Features Writer
dschabbing@jg-tc.com
Karen Butler leaps when it comes to birthdays.
Butler of Ashmore is one of those lucky enough to be born on a very unique day — leap day — which comes around about every four years.
2008 happens to be one of those years when the calendar will reflect an extra day in the shortest month of the year.
“It’s always been fun. I’ve enjoyed it. People ask me things like, ‘Do you get to have a birthday this year?’”
It’s estimated that only one in 1,500 babies will make their debut on leap day.
The 2000 U.S. census showed that about 200,000 Americans and 4.1 million people worldwide claim Feb. 29 as their birthday, according to Infoplease.com.
Butler, 67, is planning to celebrate her 17th official birthday on Friday. She was born Feb. 29, 1940.
“Mother used to let me have parties on my actual birthday. But, over the years, whatever happens is fine.”
She and her husband, the Rev. Jim Butler, have four grown children, 13 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
If having a unique birth date isn’t exciting enough — imagine being the same age or younger than your grandchildren.
“I had a granddaughter, Ashton, who turned 16 the same year I had my 16th birthday. (Four years) earlier, on my 15th birthday, I had a grandson, Bryant, who also turned 15 that year.”
Another of Butler’s grandsons, Carl, is another leap year baby, born on Feb. 29, 1976. He lives in Pennsylvania.
Amanda Dill
Feb. 29, 1996
Amanda Dill, another leap year baby, was born on Feb. 29, 1996. She’s actually going to be 12 years old, but will celebrate her third real birthday.
“On my real birthday we celebrate bigger. This year I get to bring a couple of friends to Terre Haute to go shopping,” Dill said.
But, it hasn’t always been fun for the young girl.
“When I was in kindergarten I thought I was the ‘odd ball out.’ But, my kindergarten teacher made it seem very special and now, I’m OK with (the Feb. 29) date. It’s actually pretty cool.”
Dill, daughter of Greg and Lisa Dill of Greenup, is a sixth-grader at Cumberland Middle School.
“Birthdays are very important to our family,” Mrs. Dill said. “We let her choose the date close by to celebrate. We make the actual leap day birthday very special.”
Mrs. Dill said her daughter once took it personally when she was teased about being only 1 or 2, when she was actually 4 or 8.
Actually, she’s had fewer birthdays than her 6-year-old brother.
“I’ve teased her that she’ll be 64 when she gets her driver’s license,” Mrs. Dill said.
Sean McElwee
Feb. 29, 1980
Sean McElwee of Charleston doesn’t like to make a big fuss about his birthday, but admits, having it on leap day makes it pretty special.
Born on Feb. 29, 1980, he’ll be celebrating 28 years, or seven birthdays.
“We’ll probably go out with friends and family on my birthday.”
Like most young people, he recalled his 16th birthday vividly.
“It was a leap year when I had my 16th birthday, but it was actually only my fourth birthday,” McElwee said.
Leap year births are pretty common for the McElwees.
His wife, Jessaca, is expecting the couple’s third child, which is due on March 17 — not far away from leap day this year.
“Our first child was born on March 10 of the last leap year,” McElwee said. They are the parents of Raegin, 3, and Rylie, 1.
Weddings
Joshua Warner
and Meridan Craw
Feb. 29, 2008
While you can’t control on what date you were born, you certainly do get to pick your wedding date. And four area couples have chosen to take the leap into marriage with a leap day wedding, including one that plans to be married this leap day.
Joshua Warner and Meridan Craw, both of Mattoon, will tie the knot at the New Life Tabernacle Church in Sullivan on Feb. 29, 2008.
“It started out as sort of joke about getting married on leap day,” Craw said. “But, then it just sort of worked out.”
The bride-elect said she and her fiance are both a little non-traditional, and they agreed on this unique date.
“We agreed that Feb. 29 is one of the oddest days of the year to be married, but decided to go for it,” she said.
The couple will have plenty to celebrate, as the groom-to-be was born on March 1, so back-to-back celebrations are expected.
“He’s (Warner) volunteered to give up his birthdays, but I said, ‘No,’” Craw said. “Depending on the year, we might combine the two celebrations, or choose a day close to it to celebrate our anniversary.”
But when there is a Feb. 29 on the calendar, she hopes the couple can go somewhere and do something extra nice for their anniversary.
David and Gerri Wright
Feb. 29, 1980
David and Gerri Wright of Kansas were married on Feb. 29, 1980, at the Kansas United Methodist Church.
He recalled that on their wedding day, a blizzard hit the area in the evening.
Their son, Aaron, turns 23 the day before their anniversary.
“I don’t know how that works out when we’ve only had seven anniversaries,” he said.
The couple will be married for 28 years this leap day.
“She asked me when I wanted to get married, and I said on the 29th, but I didn’t know it would be that year,” he joked.
And when does the couple choose to celebrate their anniversary?
“We celebrate every day,” Wright said. “There’s not that many people who purposely have this anniversary date.”
Tim and Brenda Whitmore Feb. 29, 1980
Tim and Brenda Whitmore of Oakland also share the anniversary date of Feb. 29, 1980, and will mark their seventh official anniversary or their 28th year of marriage next week.
“We got snowed in after the wedding,” Mrs Whitmore said. The couple were united in a civil ceremony at the Coles County Courthouse.
“We celebrate every year, but on the actual day every fourth year, we go somewhere extra special,” she said.
James and Shawn Golladay Feb. 29, 1992
At least one area couple gave no thought about being married on such a unique date 16 years ago.
James and Shawn Golladay of Charleston said they didn’t select their 1992 wedding date for any special purpose; it just worked out that way.
This winter day brought good weather, she said.
Friday will be their fourth official anniversary.
“We didn’t really think about it being a leap year date. We just picked the day and got married,” Shawn Golladay said.
Contact Dawn Schabbing at dschabbing@jg-tc.com or 238-6864.
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