Celebrating the February few
Leap year babies enjoy their day
BY MARY LANCASTER INDEPENDENT WRITER
Although Carol Dunton says she will be 15 on Friday she is actually turning 60. Betty Ryder will tell you she is having her sweet 16 celebration on Friday, but do not be fooled - she is really about to sing, "When I'm 64."

PHOTOS BY ROB BENCHLEY/The Independent

Rather than staging a chronological cover-up, however, these women and others born on leap years are simply counting the number of official birthdays they have had so far and find the whole leap year experience lends itself to a lot of fun.

"It was always a big deal when it was a leap year, but you always got a lot of attention so that if I did- n't have a birthday, people went out of their way to make it special," said Alyssa Billings who will be 36 on February 29, although it is only her ninth 'real' birthday. "It really worked to my advantage - the local newspaper would do a story, and it was a big deal."

Billings, who met her husband in a leap year and whose sister had a leap year baby, told a story similar to other leapites, who said their families always held a party for them in the off years so they were not deprived.

"I always had a celebration on the 28th and March 1st. It was like a double everything," she recalled. "My mom would try to make each of the days special. When I was in college I'd get calls that 'somewhere in space it's your birthday,' and now I'm already prepping my husband that this is my birthday week."

Dunton said she pays little attention to her birthdays until the four-year anniversaries roll around. Then, the rules change.

"On leap years, I milk it for all I've got for 12 months and let everybody know about it," she said. "My favorite line is, 'You have birthdays and we have a whole year.'

"A couple of 'real' birthdays ago we walked across the Brooklyn Bridge for pizza," she added. "That was my idea. It's spur of the moment - the rule is whatever I want. That's my rule."

Leap year rules are another story. It all started when someone noticed that the 365 days of the calendar year did not match the solar year. In a solar year, it takes the earth 365 days, five hours, 48 minutes and 46 seconds to orbit the sun. Because those extra days end up reducing the calendar year by a day every four years, which would amount to a loss of 25 days every century, the Egyptians decided to stick in a 366th day every four years to keep the seasons intact. The Romans picked February 29 as the leap day.

Sound reasonable enough? There is more. As it turns out, a solar year is actually 11 minutes and 14 seconds under the approximate 365 1/4-day calculation, so that even with the leap years the numbers between solar and calendar years are off. To fix that problem, it was decided to omit leap years in every century year that cannot be divided by 400, such as 1800 and 1900. It may seem confusing, but this method reduces the difference in calendar and solar years to a half-minute.

"We leap year babies are vital to the balance of the universe," Dunton joked.

Lorraine Olson said that when she was in college she celebrated her nonleap year birthdays one minute before and one minute after midnight. Those celebrations have become lots more fun since she's grown up and had a family.

They all indulge her, such as once hosting her party in a McDonald's kiddie room. This Friday her husband Bob is throwing her a party at the Sea Grille, but on Thursday she intends to give herself a bash she will share with the Congregational Church's Ladies Union Circle. "It's a fun time," she said.

Ryder said when she was growing up she knew of no other leap year kids. After her first real birthday she celebrated on Feb. 28 until another four years passed.

"It's just like a normal birthday except it gives you an extra day every four years. I think it's kind of unique. You don't feel any differently, but it's a fun birthday," she said. "Of course as we get older we think of birthdays differently - it seems they come too soon."

Second-grader Matthew Gardner, who is 8 in solar years, will celebrate his second real birthday Friday. His mother Pam said since her son's event usually falls within school vacation week the family does something special with him then. They hold another party in March when his friends are all here. This leap year day they are taking him to the Cape for bowling, arcade games and a movie.

"He understands the concept that it's not a birthday every year, but I don't think he understands the coolness factor," Pam Gardner said.

Nantucket Elementary School librarian Judith Powers, another leap year baby, understands.

"I loved it. I thought it was a wonderful birthday. I always celebrated on the 28th except for my real birthday," said Powers, who will have her 17th leap birthday. "Usually I just pretend I'm the same age, but then you have to own up to it. People like it when they know your birthday is a leap year. They say, 'Oh, you'll be 13 or 14.' People remember your birthday. You hear from them even on the 28th when it's an off year."

Powers left on Feb. 23 to spend school vacation week with her sister on Long Island. She's looking forward to a great time.

"Everybody knows it's my birthday, so we'll see what happens," she said. "I love leap year as a birthday."

For those who want to carry the leap year celebration and concept a little further, check out Web sites such as the Honor Society of Leap Year Babies; the Worldwide Leap Year Festival and Worldwide Leap Year Birthday Club, which is said to have about 400 members

around the globe. I