Florence Holdren is not one to let age slow her down or keep her at home.
When Florence’s children discouraged her from driving, she found an alternate form of transportation — a golf cart!
Florence almost weekly drives her golf cart to services at Borderview Christian Church, where she is a longtime member. She lives just down the road from the church. “I can ride on country roads, but not on the main highway,” she said with a chuckle.
At her children’s urging, Florence gave up driving about six months ago. “Before that I drove to church and to town, not very far out,” she said. At 95 years of age, she decided it was best to give up driving for her own safety.
“I can still drive good, but you never know about the next person,” she said.
However, before calling it quits, she made a trip to the Driver’s License Center in Elizabethton to get her license renewed for another five years. “I can legally drive until I’m 100 years old,” she quipped.
Florence has been driving since she was 16 years old.
“My brother taught me to drive and took me to take the test to get my license. I’ve been driving ever since,” the mother of three said.
The golf cart was a gift from her son for her 83rd birthday. In addition to riding the cart to church, Florence uses it to visit the sick in her neighborhood and to do small chores, and often gives her granddog, Abby, a ride. “She’s my co-pilot,” Florence said.
“I don’t ride it much when school is in session or when it rains or is storming. And, definitely not in the snow,” she said.
Florence worked at the local rayon plants for 12 years and then worked in school cafeterias for 22 years. Keenburg School is located just a “skip and hop” from her home.
She is the widow of Rinard Holdren, who died 26 years ago. Her children are Lynn, with whom she resides, and twins, Jim, who is retired from the post office, and Susan, who is a teacher and minister’s wife.
Florence has been a member of Borderview Christian Church since she was 15 years old. “I was raised to go to church, and I raised my children in church,” she said.
Florence still does her housework and cooks meals for her and Lynn. “I’m not as good a housekeeper as I once was, but I still cook what we eat,” she said. She raised a garden every year up until this year.
“I seldom miss church, especially on Sunday morning. I don’t go as much as night, like I once did,” she shared.
But, as long as she is able, Florence plans to keep on driving, even it means down-sizing to a golf cart and on a country road.