Eldora Brown reflects on 100 years of life, cards and cross-stitch
Eldora Brown explains how red dyes used to be weaker and so when longer-lasting bright red dyes were developed, it was revolutionary for the textile world because it meant playing with a brighter color palette.
CAROLYN BOSTICK/Press
Post Falls resident Eldora Brown turns 100 years old today.
Courtesy photo
A koala cross-stitch design by Post Falls resident Eldora Brown. Brown turns 100 today.
CAROLYN BOSTICK/Press
Post Falls resident Eldora Brown turns 100 today and keeps her hands busy with colorful cross-stitch designs.
CAROLYN BOSTICK/Press
POST FALLS — Eldora Brown counts her 100 years of life through bridge and cross-stitch.
For the last five decades, she has been a life master of the American Contract Bridge League and is still counting cards as astutely as ever across scattered duplicate (or tournament) bridge games each week.
In explaining tournament bridge, she likened it to chess where everyone is playing and analyzing the same variables in order to win. She’s known for her memory and sharpness among her neighbors at Garden Plaza.
Her friend, Nan Tucker, likes to say of Brown, “This gal can remember everything.”
Her first husband, a World War II pilot named Howard Baumgartner, introduced her to bridge, and she quickly took to the game. After his passing, she made the leap into tournament bridge.
“You play it right in front of you and it’s very, very competitive,” Brown said. “You have to be able to count every card, remember the bidding. You know how to defend that card because you can count those cards.”
With the exception of her birthday dinner today, Brown said she doesn’t leave Garden Plaza unless bridge is being played.
Brown has a knack for jumping into new things. She began school a year early at 4 years old, and by the time she was 8, she was deemed mature enough to travel alone from Columbus, Ohio, to West Virginia to visit relatives.
“They put me on a train and gave me 50 cents so I could get off and buy a ham sandwich,” Brown recalled.
She was briefly married to a fellow bridge player from 1970-74 with the last name of Brown. After staying single for two decades, she married again in 1994 to Carl Fasnacht, but she preferred the name Brown. The two spent about 20 years together before he passed away.
She now has a son and two daughters, four grandchildren, six great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.
At 100, Brown keeps up with her dancing skills each Friday at the Garden Plaza. She just finished teaching a bridge class for neighbors looking to polish their bridge skills.
Although she is experiencing macular degeneration affecting her vision, Brown is known by friends and family for her full quilts and colorful cross-stitch designs. She’s designed 12 quilts and keeps a “brag book” of photos of her designs, including a samurai-themed quilt that won her four awards.
Post Falls resident Eldora Brown turns 100 years old today.
A koala cross-stitch design by Post Falls resident Eldora Brown. Brown turns 100 today.
Post Falls resident Eldora Brown turns 100 today and keeps her hands busy with colorful cross-stitch designs.