When the 88th birthday of Mrs. Edna Helen Dill Brangman of North Shore, Pembroke was rolling around was rolling around her popular and populous family decided she was more than deserving of a grand party. And they went all out to make it happen, Saturday at the Cathedral Hall in Hamilton.

We say the Dills are populous because there are probably more of that clan from one end of Bermuda and various places abroad. And they are popular, because of their diverse, natural talents. It was Edna's clan that gave the Bermuda Regiment two bandmasters and other musicians; and likewise in local churches and the community at large the clan has made pronounced contributions.

Her clan just naturally and genuinely showcased some of their talents and love for Edna in poetry and readings they had composed. There were also vocal and instrumental renditions. Master of Ceremonies was the man known as 'The Voice in the Village,' Wendell Dill. The hall was decorated with a beautiful fuchsia and dark brown motif with credit being given to Kerlyn Smith and by all reports the caterers headed by Julian Grant were said to have been at their delectable best.

But it was the tributes, by some of her six children, grandchildren and nieces who enlivened the party betraying with wit and humour how the quiet and unassuming matriarch had endeared herself to her offspring and community at large.

She had seven brothers and two sisters. Daughter Jeannie Isaac, said though mother is "petite at four-eleven, she married a man who was six-seven". A strong disciplinarian, she packed her children off to church and and to two Sunday Schools in the afternoon.. Even though in her mature year, the daughter said she began surmising why none of the siblings were wanted at home Sunday afternoons.

However, "mother's extreme Christian principles have become a powerful legacy for her children and grands who continue to serve in their Churches. Jeannie, a former civil servant who has retired in Florida with her husband Carlton, came home the day before the party intending to surprise Edna. Carlton remarked how during 43 years of marriage he had never had a cross-word with his mother-in-law.

One granddaughter told of how she though she was special because Edna called her "sweetie" all the time. Then she discovered she called all her many cousins the same thing because she couldn't remember their names.

It was niece Pat Hall, who thrilled the party with her impersonation of the entertainer Cecily Tyson. Pat also gave a "this is your life" profile on her aunt.

In the lead-up to the party, Edna desperately tried every possible way to find out if the Isaacs were coming home for the party. But nobody would talk. In the end, she was indeed surprised when two former neighbours from North Shore, whom she hadn't seen for some 40 years, showed up. They were Mrs. Monica Martin Sands of Pennsylvania and sister Mrs. Phyllis Martin Eldridge of Pennsylvania. They were on a brief visit home for another event and heard about "Aunt Edna's party".