The Hanover County Centenarian Celebration has grown to become an annual point of pride for the community, honoring its residents who have reached the age of 100 or older. In 2025, its third year, it was made even richer with oral history interviews and keepsake booklets for Hanover’s oldest citizens produced by the Randolph-Macon students in Associate Professor of Communication Studies Dr. Nthemba Mutua-Mambo’s Interviewing course (COMM 235).

Now, the touching celebration is also an award-winning event,  honored with a Virginia Association of Counties (VACo) Achievement Award, presented at a September meeting of the Hanover County Board of Supervisors.

“Your creativity in bringing intergenerational storytelling to life was truly inspiring,” remarked Debbie Preston, Hanover County’s Director of Community Resources, recognizing the contributions of the RMC faculty and students while accepting the award on behalf of the event. 

When she began planning the centenarian celebration last year, Preston reached out to RMC’s Department of Communication Studies about opportunities to collaborate. Mutua-Mambo’s Interviewing course was being taught for the first time during the spring 2025 semester. The collaboration between academic and community partners—dubbed the Intergenerational Wisdom Project—was a perfect fit.

For students learning how to conduct effective interviews, the project gave them the opportunity to hone their skills, preparing and asking engaging questions. For the residents that participated, the interaction gave them a chance for their story to be told and heard, and to share the wisdom of their years. The semester-long work helped provide the storytelling materials for for a May luncheon that honored 13 Hanover centenarians, eight of whom participated in the oral history project and received keepsake booklets.

“The whole process was really rewarding for us as students,” said Sydney Robertson ’26, a business and communication studies double major, said. “Getting to go into the community and engage with those individuals, connecting our generations, it was really cool. And I feel like it’s going to be helpful within our professional careers.”

During the oral history interviews, students asked the centenarians for their personal tips to reach 100. Mildred Rigsy, the subject of Robertson’s interview, credited her faith. Others cited staying active, seeing family, or even a daily Diet Coke. The breadth of answers reflected the tapestry of personalities that make up the Hanover community.

In addition to the valuable experience for students working on a real-world project connecting them with the community in which Randolph-Macon is a key part, Mutua-Mambo values the work for the perspectives shared across generations.

“We might think that things are new, and we are living in a very different time, but when you hear stories from people who lived in other eras, you find out that they’ve had very similar experiences,” she reflected. “I think sometimes we forget that the elderly in our community are a wealth of experience and knowledge that can be helpful for all of us.”

If you know a Hanover County Centenarian, or would like to learn more about the resources and services available in Hanover County, contact the Department of Community Resources at 804-365-4300 or volunteer@hanovercounty.gov.