By Retta Lilliendahl, Local Writer
Check out the February drawing below!
On February 5, 1945, in South Jersey, at 7:30 p.m., I entered this world on a cold 24-degree day with great fanfare. I was my mother’s smallest baby, but her only one born breech. I actually feel justified in that there were no exit signs.
I was raised on goat’s milk, graduated to cow’s milk, and then moved on to Pepsi. By the 60s, we were celebrating sugar; we put milk on our cereal, singing the jingle, “Well, they’re shot with sug-ar through and through, and they’re full of goodness, just for you! Kellogg’s Sugar Corn Pops—sugar pops are tops!” Even the dentist rewarded us with a lollipop if we were good. As a child, I actually had a dentist who smoked a cigar while working on my teeth. I was petrified as ashes dropped on my white cloth drape; it was the easiest lollipop I ever earned.
Back to my topic of cold February months. There have been rare, mild Thanksgivings and even rarer warm Christmases, but February consistently gives us bitterly cold weather.
For my 16th birthday, I asked Mother if I could plan a party. She offered to bake a nice pudding cake if I would plan the rest. I agreed. In the early 60s, pudding cakes were the new rage for people who never learned to bake a cake from scratch. Because the 5th was a Sunday, we planned for Saturday. Mother baked the beautiful cake and iced it with pink homemade frosting the night before. Unfortunately, while my brothers were licking the beaters, I noticed tiny snow-flakes falling outside. By morning, there were about 8 inches of snow. In South Jersey, that amount of snow would button up the town “tighter than Dick’s hatband.” Translation: It shut down all traffic due to a lack of snow removal equipment.
In February of 2021, I decided to make up for that birthday disaster. I planned a catered party with a cake that read, “Retta’s 16th Birthday.” It was a miracle! One storm canceled all activities on the Sunday before, and a second storm arrived the day after my birthday party. But for my party, the weather was clear.
In sympathy for people with a February birthday, I am offering a drawing for a $50 Walmart gift card to anyone born in February! Mail your name and contact information to in-fo@thechimneyrockchronicle.com
Information is only for prize purposes; all details will be destroyed after the prize is presented.
All entries must be received by February 28, 2026.
