Patriots: Team’s “oldest fan” leads local Super Bowl parade
103-year-old Myrtle Milledge, reportedly the New England Patriots’ oldest fan, was the grand marshal of a Super Bowl victory parade in Maine on Friday.
Myrtle Milledge has been given the gift of an extraordinarily-long life, and she continues to take advantage of that gift in a way that should make New England Patriots fans around the world both proud and happy for her.
Originally from Mexico, Milledge now lives in the town of Rumford, Maine. A small town that calls itself home to only about 6,000 residents, Rumford is still proud of its traditions and regional pride. And one of those traditions revolves around the area’s favorite sports team: the New England Patriots.
Rumford residents gathered Friday around 6 pm local time to celebrate their team’s latest Super Bowl victory, a 13-3 win over the Los Angeles Rams. They organized a parade through the streets of town, an event that was accompanied by Patriots cheerleaders, Pat Patriot himself (New England’s mascot), and a replica of the Vince Lombardi Trophy, ordered from India by parade organizer Roger White.
“I know some (people) hate the Pats, but this is more about having something positive in our community,” White wrote on the Facebook page for the event.
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Milledge was the focal point of the parade, as its grand marshal and the “world’s oldest Patriots fan.” The title is, of course, unofficial, and was used primarily as a part of the marketing strategy put together by White for the parade event itself.
Still, it’s hard to imagine there are many people out there who could rival Milledge’s claim. Even as more and more human beings live to see their 100th birthday – most reports suggest there are well over 50,000 centenarians living in the U.S. alone – the odds that there’s another person living over 100 years old who cares as much about the Patriots as Milledge are slim to none.