Maud Foutch has seen it all, an entire century of trends, businesses, and people come and go, but she is still here.

Last Saturday, Foutch turned 100 years old.

Still living by herself with her canine companion, Foxy, Foutch cooks her own meals, gets around with her walker, and even plans to continue her gardening this year. Once an avid knitter, before losing most of her sight, she now spends most of her time rocking in her chair at her home in Fly Creek.

She said she enjoys still having her independence, just as much as she enjoys the frequent help and visits from her close family members.

Foutch said she feels lucky to have lived such a long life, but she is modest about hitting the milestone.

"One hundred isn't any big feat anymore," Foutch said. "I just heard of someone turning 107 in Oneonta."

Nevertheless, Foutch is still proud of her accomplishment, though she could shed no light on the secret to living so long.

"I did mostly anything that I wanted to do," said Foutch, who has lived 20 years longer than both her parents. "It was just ordinary living."

Foutch, who admitted to smoking in her younger days-but only for two months-and having a few drinks on occasion, does not suffer from any chronic illnesses to date, only taking medication to assist her heart that has weakened from old age.

Born in Cooperstown in 1905, Foutch is the daughter of the late Dewitt and Fannie Coleman. Dewitt was from Cooperstown and Fannie was from Springfield Center. Foutch lived with her parents in Bowerstown, where she grew up.

Foutch married a boilermaker who repaired train boilers and engines at the D & H Railroad in Oneonta. As a housewife and avid gardener, she and her husband raised her one son, Richard while living in Oneonta.

Her then modestly-sized family has grown considerably over the year, however. The Foutch name now spans five generations, giving Mrs. Foutch one child, three grandchildren, four great-grandchildren, one great-great-grandchild and another soon on the way.

"Things have changed tremendously," Foutch said.

Foutch said she remembers when she used to attend school in a one room school house in Bowerstown. In those days, she said, people walked everywhere.

She said Cooperstown's Main Street has also changed considerably. She has seen businesses change both owners and locations.

Foutch even remembers taking the D & H Railroad to Cooperstown's Railroad Avenue from Oneonta as a child. That section of the track has since been closed.

"I used to bring my bull terrier on the train with me," Foutch said. "But, in those days, you couldn't bring dogs on the train so I would hide the dog under my long cape that I wore."

Living to such an old age does have its disadvantages, Foutch pointed out. She has outlived her own generation of friends and family members. Consequently, she found herself spending more time with her son, his family and friends. But she said she did not mind that at all.

Foutch said, when she was a child, children stayed at home much more than they do today.

"We didn't have the 24-hour news channels like we have now," Foutch said. "We had to depend on word of mouth. We didn't have a TV, radio or even a phone for a while back then."

Foutch said this simpler sort of life forced children to become creative in entertaining themselves and helped families spend more time together. She said families should stay together, stay simple and stay home more often than they do today.

The Foutch family has always lived relatively close to each other, and as a result, the family has stayed close.

"We always had a lot of fun," remembered Foutch's daughter-in-law, Alene Foutch. "[Maud] always enjoyed children."

Foutch said the fun and laughter at annual family events such as Halloween costume parties helped her stay young at heart.

"We still do get kinda' rowdy once in a while," Alene said, laughing.