Local has 103rd birthday

Helen Damato isn't a stereotypical 103-year-old -she's actually quite hip with the times.

Damato celebrated her 103rd birthday at The Chart House on Thursday night with her family.

Not only does she use her cell phone on a daily basis, have all of her teeth and move around without the help of a cane or walker, but she still can do the shimmy.

"I can shake every bone in my body," Damato said.

And she does. Just last week, she was trying out a Hula-Hoop.

Damato has lived on her own most of her life. When she turned 100 years old, she moved out of her two-story house in Arizona. Now, she lives with daughter Louise Wigart in South Lake Tahoe. Because of macular degeneration, which causes vision loss, Damato couldn't live on her own anymore, and her hearing isn't as sharp as it used to be.

Damato said she never expected to be this old. She has seen Halley's Comet - which comes around about every 75 years - not once, but twice. When she first saw the comet, she was 5.

"It was a great big fire through the sky," Damato said. "People thought it was going to touch the trees."

After Damato was in her 80s, she said, she thought time would catch up with her soon.

But that hasn't happened yet.

Damato was born in Manhattan on Sept. 4, 1905. her parents were from Italy, and her mother took Damato and her siblings to live there for about five years. The family then returned to New York.

Even though Damato wasn't allowed to speak Italian growing up, she learned the language through her years living in the country and helping her parents.

Staying true to her roots, Damato still cooks a mouth-watering spaghetti sauce from scratch. She said the sauce takes three hours to make.

"I sit on a stool and stir the whole time," Damato said.

Wigart said watching her mother make the sauce is like a ritual. She adds certain ingredients at certain times. The whole family comes over when she makes it, great-grandchildren and all.

Damato doesn't stay home all the time. She's spry enough to take trips to Raley's and keep up with her 3-year-old great-granddaughter, Isabel.

So what's her secret to a long life?

"Vitamin E," Damato said. "I've been taking it for 50 years."

Besides her daily supplement, Damato said she eats healthy - no fried foods, and she doesn't drink or smoke.

"I thank the good Lord above every day," Damato said.