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95-year-old swimmer: Age is just a number
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It's 5:19 a.m. and Alma Dannenfeldt — razor sharp and more independent than a third-party presidential candidate — is holding court at Moline's Two Rivers YMCA. She's 24 hours shy of her 95th birthday, which she will spend talking with a daughter in Australia (a dinner with friends will be a day later). Reluctantly, Dannenfeldt breaks from her thrice-weekly, one-hour swimming workout, to talk. "I swim when I get here and that all depends on when I wake up,'' said Dannenfeldt, a first-class bridge player, mother of three, grandmother of eight and great-grandmother of 14. "I don't use any of those silly alarm clocks, but I'm here around 5, always way before 6 (a.m.). I've never bothered with an alarm clock.'' A Davenport native who lives at The Lighthouse at Silvis senior residence, Dannenfeldt is a ball of fire. She spent her youth in the Quad-Cities, lived in Arizona for many years and returned home in the 1980s. She recalled paying $1,800 for her first house and at one stage of her career, her $15 take-home pay matched that of her husband. "I live here -- with all the seasons -- and I have children who live in places where it's warm all the time,'' Dannenfeldt said with a chuckle. "You tell me what that is about? Isn't it supposed to be the other way, me where it's warm and my kids where it's cold? Truth is, I'm fine. I love it here. It's home.'' Dannenfeldt is the life of the morning YMCA party, although it's all business when it comes to fitness. Happy hour happens only after she is done with her work in the pool. "She entertains us,'' said Pam Chapman. She and friend Susan Archer, might be Dannenfeldt's biggest fans. "I hope if I am alive at 95, I have half of Alma's energy and a portion of her personality. She's amazing.'' A Rock Island Arsenal retiree, Dannenfeldt threw her arms to the sky and laughed -- school girl-like -- when asked about free time. She said her off hours are spent playing cards and trivia games. She is as social as time will allow and is known across the area for her bridge-playing prowess. "I also play poker and pinochle,'' she said. "Bridge is a game I love and something that really keeps my mind sharp. I use it and trivia as ways to keep me fresh. As for poker, I was doing well awhile ago, but now I'm in the middle of a losing streak. I sure could use some help.'' When asked if she has any limits, Dannenfeldt scoffed and then smiled a wide smile. "Age is a number, that's it,'' she said. "I go as far as my (Chrysler) PT Cruiser takes me. There's nothing I cannot do. I go and do, know my way around my computer and feel great. I'm lucky, but I think attitude has a lot to do with it.'' And few have a better attitude and brighter approach than Alma Dannenfeldt. Columnist John Marx can be reached at (309) 757-8388 or jmarx@qconline.com. 
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Today is Sunday, May 19, the 139th day of 2013. There are 226 days left in the year.
1863 -- 150 years ago: The Rt. Rev. Harry I. Witherspoon, D.D. Bishop of Illinois, willpreach in Trinity (Episcopal) Church, in this city this evening.
1888 -- 125 years ago: At 1 o'clock yesterday afternoon the Mississippi River flooded itsbanks at Rock Island, destroying the warehouse of the Rock Island Lumber companyand damaging the Lumber Company and arsenal power plant. Total loss isestimated at $100.000.
1913 -- 100 years ago: Residents of South Rock Island township are circulating a petitionfavoring the annexation of that area to the city of Rock Island.
1938 -- 75 years ago: Mrs. Thomas Ackles, of Rock Island, has been elected president ofthe Playcrafters for the next season. She succeeds Warren Leonard.
1963 -- 50 years ago: Some 8,000 people filed through the gates of Rock Island Arsenal on Saturday to view a display of a part of the nation's armed strength. The occasion was theannual observance of Armed Forces Day.
1988 -- 25 years ago: Willis Kuschmann, of Moline, who already has won his laurels as oneof the most artistic men in the Quad-Cities area, has a new hobby. He is deeply involvedin miniature railroading. At the age of 88, when many other seniors are dozing in theirchairs or sitting before the television, Mr. Kuschmann is planning and working on hiscollection.
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