PORTSMOUTH - Today is Jeff Gardner's ninth birthday, sort of.
Born on Leap Year in 1964, Gardner is actually 36 years old today,
but he has only had nine "official" birthdays.
Gardner, a resident of Rye, is among a unique group of people
worldwide who gets a real birthday only once every four years. The other
years, group members of course have a birthday, but must choose another
day to celebrate. They are the Leap Year babies.
"I think people usually schedule birthday celebrations by
convenience now anyway," said Gardner. "My wife threw a
surprise party for me this past Saturday. She got me, I was
surprised."
We here at the Herald think Gardner deserves to be surprised. He put
one over on us. When the Herald ran an ad calling for Leap Year babies
to be interviewed for a story, Gardner replied. He wrote a letter saying
he was having his ninth birthday and said he hoped he would get a lot of
presents. He said his name was Jeff and if we wanted to talk with him,
we could. The letter was written as though a child were the author.
A call was placed to Jeff's home, on the assumption that we were
about to interview a nine-year-old. To say we were a bit surprised would
be an understatement.
Gardner offered a few interesting insights on being a Leap Year
child. Then he obligingly posed for photos.
We got our opportunity to show him that one good turn deserves
another. We took Gardner's photos, sitting on his 2-year-old daughter's
hobby horse.
Gardner said he had a birthday party every year when he was a kid. He
said he found it unique to be a Leap Year kid.
"When my real birthday arrived, my family would always really do
it up, that was good," said Gardner.
"People made jokes and kidded me about my age, but it was always
in fun," said Gardner. "One time a friend drew me a card. It
had Feb. 28 on one side, and March 1 on the other, with me ripping my
way through a line down the middle."
Leap Yearers do not often run into each other, said Gardner. He said
he just recently met his first fellow Leap Year baby.
"A colleague of mine told me her husband was a Leap Year
baby," said Gardner.
There is a gathering place for Leap Year babies. The small town of
Anthony, Texas holds the annual "Worldwide Leap Year
Festival." The event was begun by the Anthony Chamber of Commerce
as an effort to put the town on the map and attract tourism. It is now
the official Leap Year capital.
The Internet poses a few problems that never cropped up before for
Leap Year people. Dan Metivier, born in Portsmouth in 1972, is 7, or 28,
however, you want to look at it. His mom says he's seven. He works in
the high-tech industry and provided this tidbit.
"When you try to fill out an Internet registration, the date
Feb. 29 is not recognized as a legitimate date," said Metivier.
The other place Leap Year babies lose, according to Metivier is those
free meals that restaurants offer on your birthday.
"I feel a bit robbed by that," joked Metivier.
Restaurants do not pose the only problem. A call to the Department of
Motor Vehicles proved that Leap Year babies get robbed by a day. New
Hampshire licenses expire every four years on your birthday. If you
apply for a license when you're 16, it works, because 16 is a multiple
of four.
Chuck DeGrace, assistant mananger of Information Services for the DMV
reported, after some searching that if a Leap Year person gets a license
on their off years, it would expire on Feb. 28.
"As you get older, you like it so much more, " said Doreen
Oppelt. The North Hampton resident turns 40 today, but prefers to say
she's 10.
"I do get a lot of teasing," said Oppelt. "At work,
they tell me I'm too young to work there. When I go out with my friends,
they always tell people to check my ID, they say I'm not old
enough."
Oppelt has a good system for celebrating her birthday. She does it on
Feb. 28 on the off years, because it's her brother's birthday, too. But
on Leap Year's they have two parties.
"I'm 18," said 72-year-old Don Tilbury of Hampton. "My
wife is planning something. She thinks I don't know, but I do. I don't
know what, but I know there is something because she is acting
strangely." Tilbury and his wife, Marilyn, have been married for 42
years, so he said he knows when she is planning something.
"I used to joke that I was only aging at one-quarter of the rate
of everyone else," said Tilbury. "Of course the mirror tells
the truth."
Gardner is a science teacher at Marshwood High School. He uses his
unique birthday to make his students think.
"I tell them something like this is going to be my eighth
birthday," said Gardner. "They say, wow, so how old does that
make you now. I of course make them figure it out."
The extra Leap Year day, every four years in the month of February,
dates back to Julius Caesar. It was created to keep the calendar from
gradually becoming inaccurate. Pope Gregory XII adjusted it to what it
is now in 1582.
Happy Birthday Leap Year babies.
