On October 4, Rosa Nell Blanton, of Cumberland County, celebrated her 100th birthday. Her celebration started with being chauffeured in a limo to the Farmville Airport Golf Club. She walked on the red carpet to enter the Golf Club Banquet Room where approximately 225 guests greeted her.

Nell is the 11th child of Philip and Suanna (Patterson) Gary. Her husband was the late Abraham Lincoln Blanton.

She is a mother of nine: Rev. Lucille Maddox, Arverne, NY; Susie Sanderson (John), Henrico; Lewis Blanton (deceased); Delisa Blanton, Farmville; Angela McCorkle, Jamaica, NY; Admus Gary Blanton, Farmville; Alice Hamlet, Midlothian; Minister Silas Blanton (Tonya) Farmville; Gloria Vincent (Lawrence) Hurdle Mills, NC; and Curtis Blanton (Jennifer) Baltimore, MD. She is a grandmother of 17, great-grandmother of 29 and great-great-grandmother of 12.

During her 100 years she has traveled the world and experienced many changes.

She thanks God for His Grace and Mercy, for her long and blessed life, her good health, and keeping her in her right mind at the age of 100. She also thanks her family and friends for their love and support, not only at her celebration, but also over the years.