An Uplifting Experience

For A (Nearly) Nonagenarian

By Shannon Hicks

There weren’t too many things left on Olive Ratcliffe’s lifetime wish list of things to do. She has already gone hot air ballooning. For her 76th birthday she learned how to scuba dive.

So for her 90th birthday her children decided to give her a double surprise: A party that included relatives driving in from as far as South Carolina and the gift of going up in a bucket truck.

That’s right: One of the things Mrs Ratcliffe has always wanted to do is go up in the bucket of a cherry picker, and her children made that dream a reality last weekend. It took nearly seven months of planning, but on the afternoon of July 7, Olive Ratcliffe was caught off guard by the appearance of family members who had gathered at Nunnawauk Meadows to celebrate her birthday and be there when she went 75 feet up into the air in a cherry picker bucket provided by Newtown Arbor Services.

“It was really, really wonderful,” Mrs Ratcliffe said this week, still beaming a few days after her big surprise. “The kids must have put in a lot of work to get that done, and it was a total, total surprise.”

Mrs Ratcliffe’s children are daughter Eileen Elliott, who lives with her family in Newtown; and sons Jim, who also lives with his family in Newtown, and John, who lives with his family in Atlanta. They were all at Nunnawauk Meadows, as were Mrs Ratcliffe’s four grandchildren, her great-grandson, and many nieces, nephews, and family friends. The party was held early, which helped with the element of surprise. Mrs Ratcliffe won’t actually celebrate her birthday for a few more weeks — on August 9.

“They’d been working on this since December, I understand,” said Mrs Ratcliffe. “They told me I was going to a little tea party nearby. I thought we would be going to a friend’s house and that we would be having a little party. When I saw what they had done I was in total shock.”

Instead of a tea party, Mrs Ratcliffe walked into the community building at Nunnawauk Meadows on July 7 and learned that the cherry picker that was parked outside wasn’t in fact manned by men who were going to be doing some pruning. The truck, she found out, was there for her enjoyment.

“When I was walking into the building they told me the truck was there to do some pruning,” Mrs Ratcliffe said with a laugh.

To get into the bucket of the cherry picker, Mrs Ratcliffe — who had been given a yellow hardhat and a reflective construction worker’s vest, both of which had been signed by family members — had to climb up a stepladder to first get onto the truck’s platform. Then she had to work her way back to the bucket, and then get into the bucket.

“To get into the bucket was tough, but I had a lot of muscle around me,” she said. “I felt so safe, though. Between my sons, my son-in-law, my grandsons, and all the goodwill around me, I felt very safe.

“The operators, too, they were very kind and caring,” she said.

Once inside the bucket, Mrs Ratcliffe was given a bouquet of helium-filled balloons, and after a round of “Happy Birthday To You” from those on the ground, she and Al Potter started their ascent. Mr Potter, the owner of Newtown Arbor Services, had provided the truck after he had been approached by the family. Newtown Arbor employee Michael Clark was also helping out on Saturday.

“Everybody kept hollering up to me ‘Send out the balloons!’ but [Mr Potter] kept saying to me ‘Not yet, not yet. We’re not all the way up yet,’” she said. Once the bucket was fully extended its 75 feet, Mrs Ratcliffe and Mr Potter enjoyed the scenery. From the ground, family and friends could see his arm extended from the left side of the bucket as he highlighted different points of scenery.

“When we were up at the full height could see mountains, you could see things that were far, far away. It was wonderful,” Mrs Ratcliffe said. “I think Newtown’s tourist board should hire them to take people up in that bucket to see Newtown that way.”

Mrs Ratcliffe spent just a few minutes up in that bucket, and she seemed to relish every moment of it. Saturday was a beautiful summer day, her family was around her (albeit 75 feet below), and she was up there in the air taking a look at her hometown in a brand new way. As the bucket slowly descended, a huge smile filled Mrs Ratcliffe’s face. Applause broke out from onlookers once she neared the end of the ride.

“It was exciting and scary at the same time,” she said Saturday afternoon.

“I just want to thank everybody so much for coming,” she added this week. “It was really nice to see everyone. I’m very grateful to everybody. I wish I could give everybody a gigantic hug for coming.”

So what’s next for Mrs Ratcliffe? Who knows, but there’s a rumor going around that son-in-law Dave Elliott has offered to take her for a ride on his motorcycle, which isn’t exactly on her wish list of things to do, but it’s something she hasn’t ever done.