Kewaskum Resident Invites Community to Her 100th Birthday Party in December

Nearly 100 years ago on Dec. 5, 1926, Elizabeth Hallen was born in Hinsdale, Ill., in a hospital, not common during that time. Today, she is cordially inviting the whole community to her 100th birthday party at Hon-E-Kor on Saturday, Dec. 5 starting at 1 p.m.

Early Life

Her family lived on a farm which had no running water or electricity. There weren’t even any flushing toilets. Over the past almost 100 years, she has watched the world develop and change. Hallen explained the biggest change she saw, “For me personally, going from a farm to living with running water and electricity and all those electronic things, it’s a lot of change”

In Illinois, she recalls her youth, “I was right near Route 66, so that was always fun. And as a kid I was in 4-H and involved in all that stuff.”

In 4-H she raised a pig, had a garden and sewed dresses. Being in 4-H was important to her and she mentioned its benefits for children.

“The most fun I had recently was when two of my great granddaughters came and all of a sudden for some reason we started talking about phones. And then I show them some of the old phones I had,” said Hallen. The one she has is the dial up phone where a dial has to be rotated to pick the number.

Years went by and Elizabeth married her husband, Elmer Hallen. Together they have three daughters, six grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren. Elmer unfortunately passed away 12 years ago.

Moving to Kewaskum

The couple lived in Illinois until Elmer retired in 1983 from the Cook County Forest Preserve. He also had his own business. Elizabeth also worked for Culligan and retired around the same time.

Snow is what brought Kewaskum to the couple’s attention. After visiting Kewaskum to go snowmobiling with her daughter and son-in-law, they fell in love with the area. They built a house right off the Hon-E-Kor Golf & Country Club in a cul-de-sac and lived in it ever since.

Living on a cul-de-sac makes her feel very connected to her neighbors. She likes having a little tight knit community inside of the Kewaskum community as a whole.

“Living in a cul-de-sac has been exceedingly pleasant. It’s like a little neighborhood because everybody can see what everybody else is doing.” Hallen continued, “I came home, next thing I knew, everybody was stopping in and saying hello”

Unfortunately what she was coming home from was the hospital. Elizabeth was taken there due to fluid build up in her lungs and an issue with her heart. Thankfully she is doing better and returned home on Sunday, Oct. 25.

How She Keeps Busy

There are many activities both inside and outside that Elizabeth enjoys. She likes sewing and crafting along with collecting antiques and watching football and baseball games. Golfing and gardening are hobbies she has kept over the years. Living right by the golf course, she played golf until she was 96. Now she enjoys watching the golfers from her house. As for her gardening, she built one on her property, but a black walnut tree started killing the plants. So she built an above ground planter to keep her tomatoes and green peppers safe.

In her youth, her mother took many photos of her and Elizabeth has been able to see cameras evolve. Changing from having to wait for the photos to develop for a few weeks to being able to snap a photo on your phone and see it right away.

The question that everyone wonders most when someone reaches 100 is always, “what is your secret to living such a long life?” Elizabeth’s answer is, “Keep busy I think, that’s the secret. Be involved in the women’s club, that sort of stuff.”

And she knows what she is talking about as she has stayed very active. In Kewaskum, she is active at Peace United Church of Christ and the American Legion. Volunteering at Cedar Lake is another way she kept busy over the years.

On Saturday, Dec. 5 from 1-4 p.m., a party will be hosted at Hon-E-Kor and everyone is invited to attend. There will be cake and treats along with photos over the years from her life. Hallen explained, “Actually, I had a party for my 90th. I never thought I’d get to 100, so I made some pictures throughout my life.”

Elizabeth is very excited for the party and welcomes all community members to stop by. Her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren will all be coming to the party as well.