BON SECOUR, Ala. — It was quite a year - 1911.

More than 6,500 letters were carried in the first official air mail flight, Camp Fire Girls of America was founded, the New York Public Library was dedicated and the Philadelphia Athletics beat the New York Giants in the World Series.

It was the birth year of some American icons such as Mitch Miller, Tennessee Williams, Vincent Price, Roy Rogers, Ginger Rogers, and former President Ronald Reagan.

More importantly, it was the year Bon Secour resident Ida Callaway was born.

Next Wednesday the former schoolteacher will celebrate her 100th birthday.

Born in Bay Minette on Feb. 23, 1911, the mother of two boys, James and Warren, and wife of fisherman Houston Callaway, spent more than 70 years as a teacher and a substitute, doing what she knew she wanted to do since third grade.

“I can’t think of anything else that I ever wanted to be,” Callaway said. “My third grade teacher in Bay Minette, Mrs. Robinson, was the reason I wanted to become a teacher.”

As for problems with her students, Callaway says she never really experienced any.

“Children were good back when I was teaching.”

She received her first teaching certificate from the State Normal School in Daphne. The school was founded in the former Baldwin County courthouse after the county seat was moved to Bay Minette. It operated during the early twentieth century, training teachers.

“I went to school there two years, and after that you were allowed to teach,” Callaway recalled.

Several years after Callaway began her teaching career, she continued her education during the summer months, attending Livingston University, now University of West Alabama, formerly a teachers college, and also taking correspondence classes from the University of Alabama.

For many years, Callaway taught at a school on what is now Plash Island in Bon Secour, but that school was closed in 1939.

“We only had 10 students the last year, so the school board closed the school. The superintendent sent me across the river to Swift School,” Callaway said. “That is where is stayed the rest of the time.”

Callaway also spent a few years teaching in Bay Minette and Bell Fountain, a community east of Bay Minette, close to the Florida state line.

These days, Callaway attends Oyster Bay Baptist Church, who’s auditorium sits just a few feet away from where the old schoolhouse used to stand.

The Century Mark

So what does Callaway attribute to her longevity?

“Keeping busy, eating and exercise.”

In 2011, where so many experts claim certain foods will help keep you healthy, Callaway said there was nothing she has ever tried to stay away from when it comes to eating.

“I just eat.”

In her youth, Callaway, who grew up with three sisters, said she was always very active and would often be found playing outside.

“I liked being involved in baseball, and I even got out and played football with the boys from school, instead of being inside talking about this and that. I liked playing sports.”

Callaway, who has four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren, said that during her lifetime, it is amazing how far our society has progressed.

“The technology that we have today, it was just unheard of in my younger days. We had no electricity. We had no running water. Now we have things we never dreamed we would see.”

On Wednesday, Callaway’s church family will be throwing her a special 100th birthday party, and no doubt, many of Callaway’s former students, many of whom remain in contact with her, will be on hand to celebrate the special day.