The Century Club: Cynthia Van Cleve Ramsey Turns 100

On Tuesday evening at 5:30 the Mainstay in Rock Hall hosted a private gathering in celebration of the 100th birthday of Cynthia VanCleve Ramsey. In attendance were over 70 friends, relatives and admirers of a woman who has been a relentless supporter of the arts, music, and the restaurant scene in our area for decades. Dick Durham performed some of his inimitable musical stylings on the piano, including a “Waltz for Cynthia” written especially in her honor.  He also played a fabulous rendition of a medley from West Side Story that brought the audience to its feet. She has been attending Dick’s performances for 50 years.

Some of the things that Cynthia is renowned for in our town are her regular attendance at the National Music Festival, where she usually goes to every performance, including many of the daily rehearsals; any Mainstay shows she can get someone to drive her to; her monthly French Club lunches at the Country Club; dinners of catfish from Ford’s Seafood in  Rock Hall; Camera Club meetings, and WCall classes at the college; Aquafit exercise classes for seniors: and anywhere in Chestertown there is a buffet, including First Fridays and RiverArts events.

In years past she regularly drove with friends to the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC to attend the ballet, concerts and plays. She traveled all over the world as a “””Roads Scholar”, and made a trip to Peru with her college-aged granddaughter Rosie.

She graduated from Vassar College in 1944 (one of her classmates attended the party!) and served as a WAC during World War II.  She received her MA from Middlebury College in Vermont and taught Spanish in Wilmington, DE and Easton, MD for 40 years and is remembered fondly by her former Spanish students to this day.

This might read like an obituary, but she is still alive and going strong! She attributes her long life to her daily games of ping pong with her sons, John, Ted and Bob.

It was a fabulous night, and she especially enjoyed the buffet.