PERU — Town officials are looking for any resident born before 1922 in an effort to find the oldest resident, Town Clerk Vera Parent said Tuesday afternoon.
That person would be the recipient of the Boston Post Cane.
“The previous holder of the cane, Elizabeth Child, passed away in September just shy of her 100th birthday,” Parent said. “I have a pretty good idea right now who the oldest person in town is, but I wanted to make sure to give a shout-out to the rest of the town, just in case there’s someone I’m forgetting about.
“Some people move in with their parents and slip under the radar, and I’d hate to present it to somebody and then have someone else come forward,” she said.
There will be a two-week waiting period. If nobody comes forward, the Boston Post Cane will be presented to the oldest recorded resident.
The Boston Post Cane dates back to August 1909, when Edwin A. Grozier, publisher of the Boston Post newspaper, forwarded to Boards of Selectmen in 431 towns in New England a gold-headed ebony cane. He requested that it be presented, compliments of the Boston Post, to the oldest male resident of the town. It wasn’t until 1930 that women became eligible to receive the cane.
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