Antoinette Manno turns 101 at Mount Alverno

Warwick —For the members of the Manno family, many of whom were raised on the Manno farm just off Kings Highway in Warwick, celebrating Antoinette Manno’s 101st birthday was especially meaningful. That’s because there was a special guest who couldn’t make it last year. Manno’s great grandson Rocco James Manno, the son of Rocco and Kelly Manno of Warwick, also was celebrating his first birthday - by a happy coincidence, it was on the exact same day, July 14. Manno has also managed to remain physically active at Mount Alverno Center, which has been her home for the past eight years. “They call her the bingo and shuffleboard queen,” laughed her granddaughter Kim Corkum. In 1956, after living through two world wars, Antoinette, whose first husband had passed away, emigrated to the United States. In 1958 she married Frank Manno, a foreman with the Lehigh Railroad, who had been a widower for 20 years. Although he had purchased the now well-known Warwick dairy farm in 1950, the ownership was transferred about seven years later to his son Rocco who has always been responsible for its management. Frank Manno passed away in 1993. During her birthday party, Antoinette Manno expressed in Italian, a language she now finds more comfortable than English, her happiness at being surrounded by her family, especially her new great grandson. When asked to what factors she attributed her longevity, Manno admitted that she had no idea, but that she always worked hard, ate everything, drank wine and even liquor on occasion. “Antoinette has a big heart,” said Amy Steinberg, Mount Alverno’s Activities Coordinator. “She loves animals and one of her favorite activities is our licensed pet therapy program. And we also have a cockatoo named “Poppy.” I’m amazed how he allows her to pet him and scratch his head.”