Veteran celebrates 101st birthday with trip across Confederation Bridge
KENSINGTON, P.E.I. — Chester Banks’ eyes lit up as he gazed back at the red soil of his beloved Island home and ticked a mission off his to-do list — crossing the Confederation Bridge for the first time on his 101st birthday.
The P.E.I. native celebrated his birthday Tuesday by travelling across the 13-kilometre fixed link, something he had never done before despite spending his life in the small province.
“It was just out of this world — I’ve never seen anything like it before!” Banks said Wednesday from the Kensington Community Care Home. “I had a wonderful day.”
Banks was given the chance after staff at the Kensington care home where he is a resident asked last year if there was anything he hadn’t yet done in his long life.