LAGUNA HILLS : Four Toast a Century of Memories

She could handle the audience of more than 100, all the flowers and the presents, even the speeches by assorted politicians. But Mabel Ward Blee stopped cold when she saw the bonfire atop the cake for her 101st birthday.

“Am I expected to blow all these out?” she asked.

Blee shared her birthday--her 36,875th day on Earth--with three other county centenarians Thursday at a ceremony held by the Senior Living Communities’ Rossmoor Regency.

Blee, who moved to California in 1906, said the day was for remembering the past and celebrating the present.

“Life has been so beautiful, it’s hard to say what time I enjoyed the most,” she said, as her fellow Leisure World residents prepared to toast her. “But I think right now is the best time of all because I have so many friends.”

Blee, who was born the same year that Idaho and Wyoming became states, said the world she remembers as a child was a tougher place, without today’s comforts.

“We didn’t have all the things they do now. I even remember the first time I saw a car,” she said. “Back then, we didn’t have indoor plumbing or electricity or any of these things.

“I think I like it better now.”

After presentations from the state Assembly, the County Board of Supervisors and the South Orange County Chamber of Commerce, a letter was read from Blee’s son, Ben.

“If you think Mabel Blee is just a sweet little old lady who never said boo to a mouse, I’ve got news for you,” the letter began.

It went on to describe her youthful adventures: riding wild burros bareback, living near the dangerous borders of revolutionary Mexico and becoming a “crack shot” with a pistol.

Also honored at the party Thursday were Herbert Bell, 101, of Laguna Hills; Mabel Vinson Cage, 100, of Laguna Hills, and Francis Flint, 104, of Mission Viejo.

Flint, a die-hard Oakland A’s fan (“I like that fellow Jose Canseco; he’s a great player”) said although she was the oldest in attendance, she does not worry about aging.

“I feel good,” said the lifelong California native, who regularly attends California Angels games. “My hearing isn’t so good, and I’ve got a bum toe, but I’m doing all right.”

Blee is too.

“I feel like 50--or maybe even a little younger.”