THERE can be no doubt that Mrs. Esther Allen Bentley has had a full and active life, first as a prodigious pianist and organist, a vocalist, music teacher, arranger, choir director, church worker, community activist, housewife, mother and goodness knows what not when it came to things cultural or musical, including being a pianist in the junior bands of such musical giants as Duke Ellington and Count Basie.

With all that going for Mrs. Bentley, one might expect her to be somewhat burnt out by the time she reached age 100. But that's far from the case, as she proved convincingly during the week-long celebrations that have been going on since last Saturday.

She has, however, mellowed a great deal from that quick-witted, sharp-tongued, high-strung, strong lady that this writer got to know personally from the late 1960s, and more vicariously through her siblings in the Allen Clan that produced such vibrant personalities as Wilfred (Mose) Allen, Yvonne Allen Blackett, Godfrey Allen, trumpeter and band leader Mansfield Allen and "Doc" Allen, just to name a few of her ten brothers. They have all passed on.

Though wheelchair-bound, mainly because she fell and broke her hip, Mrs. Bentley has all of her faculties; she still exercises, loves a good laugh and when she's in the mood will entertain on the piano. She takes pride in the fact that she writes her own letters.

She is a regular Sabbath Day worshipper at the Somerset Seven-Day Adventist Church. On Saturday the pastor and congregation singled out Mrs. Bentley to be guest of honour at its Community Guest Day celebrations.

Mrs. Chirleen Williams, on behalf of the congregation, presented her with an inscribed plaque detailing high points of her career as a musician and other community contributions. She also received flowers, a huge birthday cake and a warm hand-made blanket.

Mrs. Bentley responded to the gestures shown her, with a spirited testimony of her Christian faith; and she rewarded the applauding congregation with a surprise piano rendition of her variations of the hymn On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand. Mrs. Bentley is a resident of the Packwood Home in Somerset. Monday was her actual birthday when the staff and fellow residents of the home nicely feted her.

A steady stream of nieces, cousins, dignitaries and friends, such as 95-year-old Mrs. Frances Burch, MBE, and Dr. Merle Brock Swan brought her lovely gifts and lots of flowers. The Queen sent her greetings, as did Premier Alex Scott on behalf of the Government and people of Bermuda.

Her biggest and best gift of all was in the person of her only child, Earline Bentley, who flew to Bermuda from London, where since 1968 she has lived and made a name for herself as a professional singer as well as a stage and radio actress.

As recently as two months ago she opened in the BBC's popular daytime television drama series The Doctors. Earline plays the part of mother of a dysfunctional, schizophrenic boy. And while in Bermuda, a show in London's West End Haymarket Theatre, in which Earline has a part, has carried a videotaped sequence of her role.

Esther Lucille Allen Bentley was born on March 8, 1904, the second of ten children of John Richard Bentley of St. Kitts and Helena Smith Bentley. She attended the Edith Crawford School in Hamilton, graduating at age 16.

Music was instilled in the bones of the Allen children from their earliest ages. Their father encouraged them to play various instruments, and they became known as the Allen Band, performing all over the island. Esther's special role was singing duets with her brother Carl.

Esther actually began playing the piano at age five, and at 14 she commenced formal training in piano and organ under Mrs. Amy Jackson Dill. She was 17 when she became assistant organist at St. Paul's AME Church. One year later the church, impressed by her great talent, provided a scholarship for her to attend the prestigious Juilliard School of Music in New York.

Esther made New York her home base. She married her beloved Earl Bentley, now deceased, and they had one child, Earline. She became minister of music at Allen AME Church in Jamaica, Long Island, where she played the organ and trained generations of children's choirs and those for teens, seniors, men and women. Music was her life, and she taught piano and organ for a fee of $5 per half hour.

Mrs. Bentley says she enjoys classical music most, especially Mozart, Bach and Beethoven. She eventually formed her own band, and tips on jazz that she gained while playing the piano in the junior bands of the legendary Duke Ellington and Count Basie, stood her in good stead when fronting her own band. She also formed the Long Island Choral Group.

She delighted in bringing to Bermuda choral groups, vocalists and musicians she had trained. They were presented locally in concerts raising money for charity.

Mrs. Bentley returned home to Bermuda permanently in the 1990s. Without missing a beat, she organised choirs and concerts. At age 93, she promoted a highly successful concert to benefit the Matilda Smith-Williams Seniors' Residence.

Every week she attended seniors' luncheons and clubs at the Seventh-Day Adventist Church. She formed special people's choirs at the Salvation Army and the Cathedral. She recognised the need for local organists and formed a committee to raise funds to send talented musicians to her old school at Juilliard.

Mrs. Bentley organised those benefit concerts annually until she fell and fractured her hip. About three years ago she suffered a second fall, resulting in her being wheelchair-bound.

When I stated earlier that I knew Mrs. Bentley personally, I was alluding among other things to the time in the 1970s she invited me on an expenses-paid trip to New York, to be the guest speaker at the anniversary of one of her cultural groups at Allen Church. I was then a high-profile ZFB radio and television personality, and was given great VIP treatment by her and husband Earl Bentley.