Dozens fête Flossie on her 100th birthday

Sparta - Nearly 80 family members and friends packed the Walter Lynch Senior Center at Knoll Heights in Sparta on Saturday, Jan.19, to celebrate the centennial birthday of Mrs. Florence “Flossie” Meyer, longtime resident and community volunteer.
Mrs. Meyer, adorned with a golden corsage, welcomed guests who traveled from all over the United States to be in attendance for her special day.
“Isn’t this a lovely party?”, she mused as she chatted with relatives and friends.
Great-niece Dawn Prokopy came from Florida to mark the occasion with the woman she called her ‘#1 cheerleader’.
“Aunt Flossie is one of a kind,” Prokopy said, “She’s lived a good life, and she never let anyone stop her. I wanted to come here today to give back to her.” Prokopy said that she and Mrs. Meyer correspond with handwritten letters. “Growing up, she was always my partner-in-crime, and now, we’re pen pals. It’s how we keep in touch.”
The youngest party attendee was one of Meyer’s four great-grandsons. Three-year-old Gavin DeMado happily played with his cousins under a table displaying many accolades from Meyer’s years spent as a volunteer as well as birthday acknowledgements from Sparta Township, the Sussex County Board of Chosen Freeholders, and the Supreme Court.
Seven-year-old great-grandson Gareth Meyer said, “This is a cool party because there’s so many different people here”, and his brother Aydan, age 10, agreed.
The party was organized by Meyer’s daughter Jane DeMado.
“We’ve got thirty family members here today,” she told the crowd. "And Mom is blessed with so many friends; we’re thrilled to have everyone.”
Flossie’s grandson Chris Meyer, said this was a great opportunity to travel to Sparta and see friends and family he hadn’t seen recently.
“I grew up here,” he said, “and I can’t go anywhere without running into someone who knows my grandmother. We always say, ‘everyone knows Flossie’, but really, it just goes to show you what an impact she’s had on people.”