Wed, 09/14/2016 - 02:56 pm

From left, paramedic Candace Davis, Sally Long and St. George Fire Chief Tim Polky. Sal's Birthday Bash, an annual public supper fundraiser for the St. George Ambulance, this year held on Aug. 27, was a great success, raising more than $3,000. (Photo by Melanie Dennison)

Since her 88th birthday in 2011, Sally Robinson Long has had just one, albeit recurring, way she has wanted to celebrate the occasion with family and friends - by raising money for the St. George Volunteer Firefighters and Ambulance Association.

This year's public supper on Sept. 27 marked Long's 93rd birthday, and after the final table had been cleared and all the cake crumbs swept up, $3,000 had been raised for St. George Ambulance.

Sally was born in St. George aug. 31, 1923, and has lived all her life in the tiny coastal town, except for three years she spent helping family in Lisbon during her high school years. She was the youngest of five children born to Joseph "Daddy Joe" and Carolena "Mammy Joe" (Kinney) Robinson.

After graduating high school, she went on to become a hairdresser, having learned the trade at Al's Hairdressing School in Rockland but never acquiring an actual license. Cutting and styling hair was a big part of Sally's life, and she worked both in her home and in other's homes. She did not charge for her services, but rather told her customers, "Give me what you can."

She also worked in her father's lumber yard, and as a telephone operator in Tenants Harbor back when one had to call the operator and give her the number to make the connection.

She hasn't had "wheels" for a while, so relies on friends from church and the Grange, and family, to get her out for a good time.

"My mom's always one for a good time. Nobody is a stranger, just friends she hasn't met yet," said Liz Moores of Hudson, one of Sally's three daughters, during a 2013 interview with PenBayPilot. "We always had an open door here at home, always an empty bed and a spare plate on the table, right, Mom?"

Moores said he mom loves to laugh, and she loves people.

"Laughing's good medicine," said Sally. "I'm a mixer. I was a born talker. You talk and you won't get Alzheimer's, that's right."

Sally's family goes back 13 generations in St. George, and two-thirds have worked or currently work on the St. George ambulance crew. In 2008, Sally had open heart surgery, and several times before that she had to call on the ambulance crew for help.

When the St. George Volunteer Firefighters and Ambulance Association was formed in 1953, they initially didn't have an ambulance in town. So getting sick or injured and needing to go to a hospital was a very different situation than it is today.

So a couple years after her heart surgery, Sally decided she wanted to "pay back" for all the times her community's ambulance came to her aid by turning her birthdays into fundraising events. And that's exactly what she did, and continues to do as each year passes. Happy birthday, Sally!

Reach Editorial Director Holly S. Edwards at hollyedwards@penbaypilot.com and 207-706-6655.