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Leap year babies take the cake

By Kimberly K. Fu/Feature Writer

For most children, birthdays are special.

Quadruple that for Eric Ehler, who celebrates his second real birthday on Feb. 29 when he turns 8.

"It's a good thing," hooted Ehler, a Vacaville Christian School second-grader who shares a leap year birthday with at least eight other Solano County residents.

Five of the leap year babies shared their views on having such a unique birthday, which, of course, only comes around every four years.

Like the others, Eric finds it "cool" and "fun" to have such a birth date because it makes him "special."

He couldn't remember his last actual birthday, when he turned 4, but said his family usually plans something big - whether it's a leap year or not.

Celebrating on Feb. 28 is normal for him, so this year he's especially excited about partying on Feb. 29, when his mom and an aunt will deliver cupcakes decorated with leaping frogs to his classroom.

He's also enthusiastic about his Pokemon-themed birthday party which will include Pokemon party favors, an inflatable tent-with-trampoline mechanism and, hopefully, a Pokeman gift or two.

She celebrates whenever

Debi Bowen isn't concerned about a party. She's just thankful to have a birthday.

"I thought I wouldn't have a birthday this year, it being the millennium and all," she said. Normally, the Winters High School piano teacher celebrates whenever it tickles her fancy, be it one day or two weeks.

"I really like it because usually I can milk it for all it's worth. I can celebrate the first, second and third (of March) if I have to," she said.

This year, the celebration must be short and simple, as Bowen leaves March 1 to visit a sister in Anchorage, Alaska.

She said she usually keeps telling her family, "It has to be something big."

The 35-year-old said that only good things come from having such an odd birth date. "I can act my age; I like to be crazy and spontaneous." Her most memorable birthday? Definitely her fourth.

"It was a leap year, I turned 16 and I got my driver's license. That's how I remember it," she said. Bowen added that her birthdays are as much a joy for her kids as they are for herself.

A great thing for women

"They get to tell their friends they're older than their mom," she laughed.

Martha Boring, 63, also touts the wonders of being a leap year baby. Besides being able to celebrate "whenever it's convenient," she also lays claim to the Fountain of Youth.

"For a woman, I think it's wonderful," she enthused. "I would never feel I was lying about my age. I would always say I was four years younger."

Revealing her birth date is entertaining for Boring, a playground supervisor at Winters Elementary School. "When I tell people I was born in a leap year, they try and figure it (her age) out and get so screwed up," she said. "It always was a great conversational thing."

Boring, too, is unsure of her birthday plans. All she knows is that she'll be in Portland from Monday on, helping her sister move. But she doesn't care.

"I'm healthy. I'm still living, so that's good," she said.

Combining the celebrations

Family is integral to Jose Martinez' birthday, too. Tuesday marks the Spanish native's 15th real birthday and he plans to celebrate as he always does - with a combined party for himself, a daughter, who turns 27 on Feb. 28 and a granddaughter, who turns 10 on Feb. 27.

The date? As soon as possible.

"Why wait to celebrate?" said his wife Maria, pointing out that this was the first year in a very long time that Jose has been excited over a birthday. His happiness, she said, is usually focused on the other two.

According to Jose, his birthdays are no big deal, a souvenir, really, of another year survived.

"Everybody forgets my birthday. It's every four years, so they forget," he said. "I forget, too."

In his 59 years, Jose has only had two problems because of his unique birthday. Both occurred decades before. A young bank teller once refused to believe his birth date was real, but he cleared that up quickly. A Department of Motor Vehicles clerk was harder to convince, however.

"I put it on the paper, 29, and she changed it to 28," he said. "I said, 'What is this, 28? I think you need to go back to school."'

Jose never changed the date on his driver's license, as there was a fee for the correction, he said. And now, "I'm too old. I don't drive anymore."

Forget the draft

Ruben Hernandez, 47, said his birthday has always been a source of amusement. "That's always made me feel like a nonconformist," he said.

When the San Francisco native was in high school, his birth date kept him from attending certain events.

"Always they (security people) asked me, 'Hey, where'd you get that phony ID?" he said, shaking his head.

After graduating in 1969, his birth date almost got him arrested. Back then, all men his age were required to carry draft cards. Hernandez could never sign up because the military database kept spitting his information back out. "My number always came up 0 or 366," he said of his age. "So I never got drafted. So in 1970, during the second draft, a story came out in the paper that said if you were born in a leap year, forget it. You'd never get drafted."

Just recently, Hernandez moved to Fairfield to be closer to his mother. While trying to renew his driver's license, he was questioned by the DMV staff as to the validity of his birth date. Nothing but a birth certificate would suffice, so he was forced to return to San Francisco for a copy of the document, which cost him about $30, including travel expenses.

Other than that, life as a leap year baby has been great, he said.

Like the other celebrants, Hernandez admitted to celebrating his birthday on more than one day - usually Feb. 28 and March 1.

"When I was a kid friends would ask me, 'Hey, When's your birthday?' And I would say the next day, or 'No, today's my birthday.' I was always fortunate to celebrate two birthdays instead of one."

He's a grandfather now, and his unusual birthday has given him something in common with grandson Ruben Hernandez III, now 3.

"When he's 14 years old, I'll be 14 years old same time," he said. "Isn't that great? It'll be something we'll share."

Daughter didn't go along

Four years ago, Vacaville librarian Dick Brownell tried to combine his 14th birthday with his daughter April's. He thought it was a great idea.

Her answer was quick and clear.

"She said 'No way, Dad. I don't want us to have a party with my friends,"' he remembered. "It didn't work out."

This year, Brownell will be whooping it up in Oregon with his sister, who has sent him birthday cards and funny postage stamps for the past few weeks. The stamps were personalities and objects from their childhood, such as Superman.

"It made me feel really special," he said.

Want to know more?

If you want to learn something about it, your best bet is to jump online.

Here are some sites to check out:

leapdaybabies.com : Join the Honor Society of Leap Year Babies, read about famous leapers, access an index of facts such as leap day and leap year events that changed the world. Meet families with leap day babies, chat about leap year events, view the countdown to your upcoming birthday.

boutell.com/birthday.cgi/2/29 : Log on to the World Birthday Web and e-mail other leapers near and far. At last count, there were about 400 registered leapers.

www.scopesys.com/cgi/today2.cgi : Scope Systems allows viewers to read up on famous people born any day in history. Famous leap year babies include Pope Paul III, 1468; John Philip Holland, father of the modern submarine, 1890; baseballer John "Pepper" Martin, 1904; and rocker Randy Jackson, 1955. Also on view are leap day deaths, religious facts and historic events.

www.mystro.com/leap.htm : Billed as the "Original Leap Day Site," this site covers the existence of leap day, a.k.a. Sadie Hawkins Day. It also offers books and cards celebrating the event.

www.rog.nmm.ac.uk/leaflets/leapyear/leapyear.html : The Royal Observatory Greenwich tells you everything you ever wanted to know about leap year and more. Really. Delve into the science behind leap year, explore the reasons for the change from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar, download informational leaflets and more.

emailman.com/leapday/index.html : What's the deal with Y2K and leap day? Read about it here. You can also access about eight informational links for leapers.

leapyearcapital.com : Learn all about the leap year Capital of the World, a.k.a. Anthony, on the border of New Mexico and Texas. Catch up on the activities to be held this year. Past events have included festivals, parades, hot air balloon rides and golf tournaments. Also access the Worldwide Leap Year Birthday Club site.

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