Betty Serfass, a resident of The Village at Palmerton, celebrated her 86th birthday on Jan. 5.

She was married to Ervin Serfass, but "people just called him Reds," Betty says affectionately."That, naturally, was your nickname if you had red hair. We met when I was very young. I was off from school and went shopping with my mom to Mooney's Food Market here in Palmerton. Reds was working at the deli counter."He asked why I wasn't in school. I told him we had off to prepare for the school play that evening. He seemed very interested in hearing all about it. And, wouldn't you know, there he was at my play, and we started dating after that."Reds and Betty married in 1943, and during their 42 years of marriage raised six children together: Polly, Brenda, Debbie, Barry, Danny and Terry.Betty worked at Natalie Fashions, Palmerton, as floor supervisor of the pressing department for 28 years. She devoted 22 years, volunteering as food service coordinator for St. John's Lutheran Church, Towamensing, making homemade sauerkraut as a fundraiser every year.She also was the sexton of the church keeping everything in perfect shape for Sunday.Looking back Betty says, "I can't complain, my kids turned out great, and that's all a parent could ever hope for."Since she's moved to The Village, Betty has taken an interest in scrapbooking and occupies her time by participating in bingo and various other events.