SPRUCE PINE — Mitchell House residents Mabel Elberta Wing and Ruth Archer were honored by the High Country Area Agency on Aging during a special outdoor ceremony on Monday, Sept. 21.
Wing and Archer were both presented with plaques displaying a resolution honoring their lives as two of the high country’s longest living residents.
Wing will celebrate her 100th birthday on Nov. 24 and Archer will turn 103 on Oct. 11.
Wing was born in Mitchell County and has six grandchildren. She enjoys reading, writing and telling stories and is a member of Rebel Creek Baptist Church.
Archer, who was born in Chile, South Africa, worked as a music teacher and served as Music Director for the Western North Carolina Baptist Association in the 1940s.
Charles and Norma Duncan of the North Carolina Senior Tar Heel Legislature attended the ceremony in addition to Mitchell County Manager Tim Greene, Spruce Pine Mayor Darla Harding, Spruce Pine Town Manager Richard Canipe, Bakersville Mayor Charles Vines and Mitchell County Commissioner Jeff Harding.
After receiving their plaques, Wing and Archer posed for photos with the group outside of the Mitchell House.
All attendees were masked and maintained standard social distancing amid the ongoing pandemic.