Gladys Banks Marks 108th Birthday with Community Celebration

Residents of a Kent village united to commemorate a remarkable individual whose birthdate falls on Christmas Day. Gladys Banks, known as the “Queen of Borough Green,” reaches her 108th year today, having been honored with a street celebration. The entire community assembled on November 30th, coinciding with their Christmas lights switch-on event, in the street adjacent to Gladys’ front garden for an early festivity. They presented her with a birthday cake, champagne, and music, as a substantial gathering serenaded her with “Happy Birthday.” Gladys, an admirer of Abba, was observed dancing from her chair with a glass of sparkling wine in hand, and stated: “The people here in Borough Green are so good to me. I’m the Queen of Borough Green, you know, so I practise my wave!” The local residents have organized a celebration for her annually since she reached the age of 100. “I know there’s lots of old ladies that probably don’t see anybody from one week to another,” remarked great-grandmother Gladys, whose birth year was 1916, during the midpoint of World War One. “I’m very lucky here.” Becky Holdstock, responsible for arranging Gladys’s celebrations, commented: “I just adore her. You can still talk to her like a friend, she’s got everything that you’d possibly ever want at 108. “She’s the most loveliest lady I’ve ever met in my life. She still goes out – she does more than me.”