Rita Georgeff has seen a lot of changes along the Windsor-Detroit waterfront throughout the years. Now, at age 102, she has walked the newest bridge and remembers being at the Ambassador Bridge for an anniversary date. “I was seven years old and I lived on the corner of Peter and Indian Road and there were just mounds and mounds of people on the bridge,” she recalled. “But at seven you really don’t know what what’s going on.” The centenarian knew what was going on Tuesday, a walk on the bridge organized by her friends. “Oh gosh. I’m doing it!” she exclaimed, steps into her experience. Georgeff celebrated her birthday on Aug. 28, and it was her wish to walk on the Gordie Howe International Bridge. “I wanted to really do this when I was 100 and I had to wait two years to do it.” Worth the wait? “It sure is,” she said. Gail Bondy was happy for her friend. “We’ve been waiting for two years. It was planned for her 100th birthday. It got postponed, postponed again,” Bondy said. Georgeff led the pack for much of the walk and was stopped along the way by well wishers. One walker from Michigan expressed her delight to meet Georgeff, while a young man wished her a happy birthday. “She’s such an inspiration for us. I’m 70 and we’re like if she can do it...” Jackie Craig started saying before her husband Larry finished her sentence. “We’re hoping to be able to do that, definitely in 32 years and we’ll see you back here in 32 years.” The couple from Michigan took pictures with Georgeff before carrying on towards the city of Windsor. Georgeff went the other way, but paused for more greetings, photos, and to soak in the views. Her friends checked up on her, but Georgeff continued to forge forward. “Going downhill is going to be a lot easier,” said her friend, Gary Bondy. “Oh yeah, because it’s quite an incline,” Georgeff noted, who made it far enough to be able to look up and appreciate the cables before turning around to make her way back. “She was unbelievable,” said Gail Bondy. “The way she was going without wanting any help at all. Let me be. Follow me. Be there if I hesitate. It was all Rita.” Georgeff enjoyed the excursion and thought it was a fantastic trip. “Not only that, the Gordie Howe International Bridge is really a feat of good engineering,” she remarked. Georgeff is a lifelong Sandwich Town resident and has felt the energy brought to the community because of the multi use trail. “At my age it’s difficult to actually go down to Sandwich Street but every time I do I appreciate how much The Gordie Howe Bridge has done for the town. It’s fantastic,” she said. CTV News asked Georgeff what her next birthday wish might be. “That I reach my birthday, actually,” she said followed by laughter. 3,500 people used the multi-use trail on the Gordie Howe Bridge the day it opened on Aug. 5, and thousands have done so since. CTV has learned other centenarians are planning to do the same thing.
