Dorothy Abelovsky, a resident of The Village at Palmerton, celebrated her 89th birthday Feb. 16.

Born in Egypt, Pa., she later moved to Northampton. Dorothy was one of five children, and the only girl.When she was 16, her brothers asked her to fill in on their baseball team as an outfielder, because they were "one man down." After the game, one of the fellows came up to her and said, "Hi Dorothy, I'm Joseph, and one day I am going to ask you to marry me." Dorothy said she gave him a look of horror."All I did was play baseball. I wasn't shopping for a husband," she explained with a giggle. "I never knew he lived in our neighborhood. I just hadn't noticed."Joseph asked her brothers for permission to date their only sister."Of course they said yes, he was a baseball player. That seemed like an important thing to do, honor among the baseball team."The Abelovskys were married in 1945 in Blessed Virgin Church, Northampton, and moved in with Joe's parents to help care for his ailing father. Eventually they moved to Palmerton.Dorothy worked for a short time in a dress factory, but quit when she was expecting the first of their five children: Monica, Conrad, Mike, Jon and Mary.Joe was a machinist for Western Electric, and Dorothy stayed home with the children. She was active in her church, singing in the choir and baking cakes almost weekly for the church social hour on Sunday. She was a well-known cook and baker in her community and was very popular for the art of making halushki."You have to get the dough just right and flexible then run it over the grater. Joe got me one from Germany with bigger holes. You then let it drop quickly into a large pot of hot water." Dorothy handed down her "Cooking Bible" to her daughter Mary just last year, with orders, "Guard this carefully, it took a long time to write."She lost her husband in 2006 and daughter Monica in 2008. Even though life has many trials, Dorothy will tell you, "God has blessed me in many ways."Dorothy enjoys participating in exercise, bingo, crafts and the Gardening Gang at The Village.