Mervyn, better known to many of his Boorowa friends and associates as 'Squib', continued his long association with horse racing by beginning his week of celebrations with a day out at the Port Macquarie Racecourse.

Port Macquarie News journalist Nicole Langdon reported that Mervyn was trackside 'with a beer in one hand and a race guide in the other,' to witness the running of the Merv O'Hara Happy 100 Class 3 race.

The week of festivities concluded with a luncheon on October 3, attended by his four children, 11 grandchildren and 14 great grandchildren.

Among the friends who made the trip to Port Macquarie was old friend Win Ryan of Boorowa.

Among the gifts was a framed caricature of himself surrounded by his greatest loves-The Manly Sea Eagles, horse racing, chocolates and lawn bowls.

Merv, one of eight boys, was born in Brial Street, Boorowa on October 3, 1914. Now a resident of the Garden Village retirement home at Port Macquarie, Merv has lived through two world wars, served in the RAAF in World War 2, owned a barber's shop with his late wife Irene, held a bookmaker's licence for 37 years and 'dabbled' as an amateur jockey.

During his 100 years he has seen people fly, not only across the world, but into space. But he says that the telephone is the greatest invention of his lifetime.

Many of the older generation will recall his barber's shop in Marsden Street, a couple of doors down from the Top Cafe. He began his bookmaking career in a back room of the shop.

After his discharge from the Air Force in 1942, he gained a licence to operate at horse, dog and trot meetings in the area around Young, Harden, Cootamundra and Boorowa.

He later moved to Dee Why, where he worked at the Sydney Turf Club, then moved to Grafton in 1956.

In 1972 the O'Hara family settled in Port Macquarie, where Merv worked as a licensed bookmaker until his retirement in 1979.

-with Port Macquarie News