Longtime Valentines Prove the Sweetest

Arlene Likes is a bundle of energy at 82.

The founder of Golden Links, a group of First Baptist Church of Reseda members who have been married 50 years or longer, shows no signs of being tired after greeting and seating 45 people in the VIP room of a West Valley Chinese restaurant for the annual Valentine’s Day luncheon.

“This is the biggest crowd we’ve had,” said Likes, who coordinated Golden Links’ first Valentine luncheon in 1984, when membership was six couples. “If turnout is any indication, it just goes to show that old age isn’t for sissies.”

Currently, membership consists of 33 couples and 18 individuals who have lost their spouses after 50-plus years of marriage, including Likes, who’s been a widow for 10 years.

And Likes could not be more proud of the members.

“Many of them are still active, still take part in church events,” she said. “Many of them have lived through the Depression so they have seen both the bad times and the good times. They’re good role models for our young people.”

As soup is being served, conversation ranged from recent news events to personal topics such as what the women admired in their husbands. One person answered “loyal and faithful” while another said “sense of humor.”

A practical member of the group said, “He can fix anything.”

Cecil and Ora Smidderks, who have been married for more than 64 years, reminisced about old times.

“I met her in seventh grade,” Cecil Smidderks said of his wife. “That was 69 years ago.”

The couple married on Christmas Day 1933.

But in this crowd, the Smidderks have “only” the second longest marriage.

The longevity distinction went to Lionel and Rosetta Haworth, who were married Dec. 12, 1933, less than two weeks before Cecil and Ora Smidderks walked the aisle.

As charter members of the Golden Links, the Haworths have attended all 15 annual luncheons. Said Rosetta Haworth: “We’ve had a wonderful time every time.”