The latest local news, weather and high school sports from the Heartland

ST. JOSEPH, MO. (AP) -- A St. Joseph woman is celebrating her 106th birthday on Valentine's Day.

Lolita McVey got a head start on the festivities Friday at the Vintage Gardens assisted living community. Several family members joined her for a celebration lunch.

She told the St. Joseph News-Press that she never thought she would live so long and called her longevity "nuts." McVey lost her husband, Taylor, a doctor in St. Joseph, in 1989 and lived by herself until a fall forced her to move into the
assisted living facility.

McVey said there is not a real trick to her living so long. She says she stays healthy "by doing nothing" and that staff takes good care of her.

(Copyright ©2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)