Colombian police throw 'masked ball' for lady's 110th birthday
May 4 (Reuters) - A Colombian grand dame partied on her 110th birthday despite coronavirus curbs, as police threw her a "masked ball" outdoors with live music, a huge cake, and presents from friends and neighbors.
Anita Rojas, fondly known as "Dona Anita," danced and waved her arms as the police band serenaded her with a mariachi-style version of "Happy Birthday."
"May God bless you, may God keep you," she told the officers outside her home in Pereira, in Colombia's Coffee Triangle.
The revelers, sporting surgical masks, counted up to 110 and cheered for their beloved neighbor, who was wearing a tiara.
Rojas is still going strong, said her nephew Omar Ramirez Rojas. "Even at her age she has her mental abilities, she eats on her own, bathes, dresses and has a lot of ability for her age," he said.
(Reporting by Herbert Villarraga and Kristin Neubauer; Writing by Richard Chang; Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)
