Beatrice Martin

"I might get a computer to celebrate but I won't be able to use it; I don't know anything about them," she joked.

In a more serious vein, Mrs. Martin allows that the coming millennium doesn't hold much promise for her. She is more content to dwell on what has occurred in the 20th century which for her has served up a full plate.

Over a large span of years, this sprightly woman with a twinkle in her eyes, has been involved in myriad activities, from selling lingerie to making detonators for bombs in World War II.

Yet, she protests that she is ordinary, a woman who grew up in rural Greene County where the roads made travel difficult and in actuality prevented much movement from the homestead.

With the arrival of Model-T Fords, her world opened up, allowing her to travel to far off places like Pocahontas where she did the banking for her father who toiled in the timber business.

"The roads were so bad that a neighbor kept a team of horses always ready to pull cars out of the ruts in the mud," she recalled with a shake of her head.

"I was my father's bookkeeper and I signed the checks and made bank deposits."

One of her claims to fame developed in 1940 when she was named to the local Selective Service Board, drafting young men for military service in World War II.

"My husband didn't think it was funny when I moved his name up to the top of the list," she chuckled. "It was a joke."

While she wasn't a "Rosie Riveter" in World War II, she worked for an ordnance plant in Jacksonville fashioning timers on the detonators for bombs. "I only had one timer rejected in all of them I worked on." she said, very pleased with herself.

She also made her mark with the Franklin Department Store in Little Rock, managing the lingerie department. She retired in 1967.

Predicting the future was something she eschewed, yet she didn't mind talking about the 20th century and its wonders. She would not single out any one particular invention or occurrence of the century, content to note that innovations such as the Model-T Ford, talking pictures, television, computers were all important to life.

As for 2000, Mrs. Martin, with a smile, said she would allow it to come. "Anyway, I can't do anything about it."

"But I do thank God for giving me my life," she proclaimed.