It was an elaborate plot, but it worked. When it came time for Hazel Summers to file her taxes, H&R Block Senior Tax Analyst Linda Guild insisted she be the one that handled the job. Linda then arranged for Hazel to visit the office, where she had planned a surprise celebration complete with a table filled with refreshments and flowers for their long-time customer, who is now 100 years young.

Those that knows Hazel are aware that she appears to be 20 or 30 years younger, and she is still active and sharp of mind, although she admits that her eyes are not as sharp as they used to be. She explains she made the decision on her own to stop driving this past July due to concern about her vision, although she still has her car, just re-tagged it, and the insurance is all paid up.

Hazel shared that she has lived in Seminole since she was in second grade. Her Dad, Charlie Reynolds, had been Sheriff in Coal County before joining the Seminole Police Department and moving his family here.

One of her earliest memories of Seminole is the muddy streets. Her Dad worked for Police Chief Jake Sims at that time. She says he would take her and her siblings to the movie, but they weren’t allowed to go past the Commercial Hotel and the Bishop’s Alley area. After it’s mentioned that the Commercial Hotel was a brothel, Hazel states that she knew it.

“Us kids didn’t ask, and we weren’t told, but we were nosey,” she explains with a laugh. “We found out a lot of things.”

Hazel attended the old Central Grade School and recalls watching them building Seminole High School when walking to class.

“That was a great school,” she recalls, “and I remember the great teachers I had.”

She regrets that she did not graduate, but she doesn’t regret getting married, and at that time married people weren’t allowed to attend.

“Well, this boy I met, I loved him and we just hit it right off, and we got married February the fifth, 1940,” she says about her husband, Ruel Summers, who quit school to help his parents. He later became a field foreman for Atlantic Richfield, retiring after 34 years.

“He’s been gone 31 years, and I’ve never been with anyone else,” she says, her voice cracking with emotion as she adds, “I just couldn’t do it to him, I just couldn’t.”

When the conversation turned to the recent hike in prices on almost everything, Hazel recalls that when she first got married, she could buy two dozen eggs for 25-cents, and gas was 19-cents a gallon. She also shares she has been a Seminole Producer subscriber since right after WWII, and she will continue to take it just as long as she is able to read it. She adds that she knew Milt Phillips and all of his family.

Hazel and Ruel moved to the country in 1950, where they raised cattle on 173 acres. She says it broke her heart when she sold the farm in 1992.

“I just loved living there,” she says, “in my heart I’m still out there.”

Although she misses the country, she believes she lives in the best neighborhood in town. For example, one neighbor, Leslie Walker, had been in on the surprise and provided her a ride to make sure she arrived on time.

She also praised the kindness of another neighbor, Scott Childers, who she says takes good care of her and has even offered to ride around with her if she ever decides she wants to drive again.

It was obvious from the reception in her honor that Hazel has had a huge, positive impact on everyone whose life she’s touched. It was agreed that she is a true community treasure.