Summerside centenarian ready to serve as carnival's parade marshal

'I feel honoured. I don't know if I deserve it or not'

Image | Mildred Savidant

Caption: A lifelong Summerside resident, 100-year-old Mildred Savidant will be the lobster carnival's parade marshal. (Sarah MacMillan/CBC)

A centenarian who has been around for longer than the Summerside Lobster Carnival will serve as this year's parade marshal in Saturday's parade.
When Mildred Savidant, a lifelong resident of Summerside was asked why she was picked, she said, "I don't know how I got it. They just came and kept asking and talking to me about it. Finally they said for me to go and do it."
"I feel honoured. I don't know if I deserve it or not."
While Savidant said she will be "just driving" in a car in the parade, at 100 and a half, she still gives back to the community.
"Yes, I've done quite a bit of volunteer work with culture and the Wyatt properties and those things."
Savidant said she helped out with whatever she could over the years in a community she has lived in since the age of two.

Community resource

The centenarian is considered a community resource and provides historical information about the city to people who are working on books or other projects.
"My parents were always interested in old things and I kind of followed along."
Savidant said she wrote a book for her family about memories of Ottawa Street where she grew up and lived after she got married.
"It's stories about the different people who lived there and what we did and didn't do."
Savidant said she will continue to share her knowledge as long as she can.
"If I can tell anybody anything, I'm only too glad to do it."
Corrections:
  • An earlier version of this story stated the parade was on Sunday. In fact, it was on Saturday. July 17, 2017 2:13 PM