Bernice Steinke laughs as she looks over the dozens of birthday cards she received for her 25th birthday in her St. Paul home Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

It was 100 years ago that Bernice Steinke was born in an ambulance on the way to a St. Paul hospital.

So why is she only turning 25 this week?

She’s a leap day baby.

When your birthday only comes around every four years, it’s pretty special. Especially when you are turning 25 — or 100, depending on how you look at it.

So on Thursday — the anniversary of that ambulance ride — she looked back on her long life from her home in St. Paul.

1924

A photo of Bernice Steinke and her parents, Etta and Dellenter Sparks, from 1928. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

On leap day in 1924, Calvin Coolidge was serving as the 30th U.S. president. Earlier that month, George Gershwin debuted “Rhapsody in Blue,” a jazzy-classical composition that would become the year’s biggest hit. As for prices, a first-class stamp cost 2 cents.

In St. Paul, the Pioneer Press reported that at least five babies were born locally on leap day that year — but only Steinke’s debut was unusual enough to warrant a separate story.

“Child is born as ambulance goes to hospital,” the headline read. “Drivers amazed when they hear wail with four miles to go.”

Born about a block from her home on Kerwin Street on the East Side of St. Paul, the baby was named Etta Bernice Sparks.

Since her mother was also called Etta, the baby went by Bernice — though she was also known as Sparky.

It would be awhile before Bernice could celebrate her first birthday. Over time, she got used to it, celebrating whenever it was most convenient.

“I call them my unbirthdays,” she says of non-leap years.

‘Leap year kids’

Bernice Steinke points to a newspaper photo of herself and other leap day babies celebrating their birthdays in 1936 while in her St. Paul home on Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

Growing up during the Great Depression and coming of age during World War II, life wasn’t always easy for this St. Paul kid, but she made the best of the novelty of her leap day birth.

Sometimes, it even got her invited to parties like the one a local paper was throwing.

“Dear Friend Editor,” she wrote to the Daily News in 1936. “I think it is very nice of you to give us leap year kids a break like this. My name is Bernice Sparks and I live at 527 N. Western Ave. I will be 12 years old the 29th. And will you please let me know if you are going to have the party in the afternoon or the forenoon? Thank you, Bernice.”

“You’re welcome, Bernice!” the paper replied. “And for your information and the rest of those kiddies who were born Feb. 29, the big Daily News party for leap year children is going to be held at 2 p.m. at the Orpheum theater next Saturday.”

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After graduating from Johnson High School in 1942, she attended college in Mankato before meeting her future husband, Fred Steinke, back here in St. Paul.

They met after the war, as employees at Buckbee-Mears Company, a manufacturer that was located in Lowertown.

“He was a stencil cutter and I was a racker packer,” she says.

Fred and Bernice got married in February 1952 — a leap year. They also bought a house that month and, of course, celebrated her actual birthday on Feb. 29.

“I always joke that Fred arranged it that way so he’d only have to get me one card that month,” she says with a laugh.

Happy times, sad times

A photo of Bernice Steinke with her late husband, Fred Steinke, and their newborn son Alfred in 1953 in front of their St. Paul home. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

Bernice still lives in the house on the East Side that she moved into as a newlywed.

This is the place where they raised their four kids — Alfred (now 70), Sylvia (now 69), Kenneth (now 68) and Ruth (now 62). There were happy times here, like holidays and birthdays (and unbirthdays) and accordion dance parties. There were sad times, too: Fred passed away of a heart attack in 1974 when their youngest child was only 12.

To support her family, Bernice returned to work, focusing on the elderly and aging as she first coordinated a home-delivered meals program and eventually worked for the St. Paul Public Housing Agency in a senior high rise.

She’s been retired since 1988, but kept busy with activities like cross-stitching and quilting as well as volunteering at Eastern Heights Lutheran Church on Ruth Street, where she and her husband helped found a school (that their children attended). She also sang in the choir and volunteered both at the church and school for many years. She is still a member today, and it’s where her family will hold a birthday party for her this weekend.

These days, she enjoys talking about her seven grandchildren and five great grandchildren, who range in age from about 9 months to 46 years. One is coming from Canada to attend her party on Saturday.

‘Today, I’m having fun’

Bernice Steinke blows out candles on her 25th birthday cake in her St. Paul home on leap day, Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

Like any 25-year-old, Steinke has goals: One of them is to go for a ride in a hot-air balloon (if you know someone who can help make this wish come true, let us know).

On Thursday, though, she settled for elevating her feet in her recliner while opening a stack of birthday cards and visiting with her oldest child, Alfred Steinke, and her daughter-in-law, Jeanne Zimmer. She also blew out the candles on a lemon poppyseed Bundt cake that her granddaughter, Erin Buss, made for her.

Of course, she also was interviewed by the Pioneer Press, which seems fitting since we wrote about her 100 years ago. Our chat was interrupted when she got a call from her brother, Bob — he’s 94 years old.

“Happy Birthday!” said Bob.

“Thank you!” she replied.

“100!” he said. “That’s amazing. Wow.”

So how does it feel physically, to be 100 years old?

“Sometimes it doesn’t feel so great,” Steinke said. “But today, I’m having fun.”

Her faith is a comfort, too: Her large-print Bible is within reach of the recliner.

When asked the secret to a long life, her thoughts turn to God.

“It says in the Bible: God gives everyone a purpose when they are born,” she says. “Maybe I haven’t finished mine.”

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INDIANAPOLIS — After watching him struggle in an elevated role, the Vikings informed running back Alexander Mattison on Thursday afternoon that they will be releasing him ahead of free agency. A source confirmed move to the Pioneer Press after it was initially reported by ESPN.

It was an underwhelming performance for Mattison last season after taking over for star running back Dalvin Cook in the backfield. Though he was expected to see an uptick in production as the leadback, Mattison never gained any traction, finishing with 180 carries for 700 yards. He eventually lost his starting job to fellow running back Ty Chandler toward the end of last season.

The decision to release Mattison will net the Vikings around $3.35 million in cap room.

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There’s always been a place for a manic kind of comedy. The type of over-the-top performing style that consistently errs on the side of the outrageous, emphasizing the unpredictable at every juncture and leaving audiences agog at the wildness of it all. Think of stream-of-consciousness comedians like Jonathan Winters and his heir to the crown of breathtakingly rapid-fire humor, Robin Williams.

It feels like that’s what playwright Sandy Rustin and director Casey Hushion were shooting for with “Clue,” a stage comedy built from a board game and a 1985 film fashioned after it. Currently opening a 21-city tour at Minneapolis’ Orpheum Theatre, its key ingredients are pace and outrageousness. And, if you’re in the right mood, you could have some fun with it, for it’s as much of a spoof of the game as it is an homage to it.

But one chief difference is that the game requires you to think, and this production doesn’t really encourage that. The characters are almost as cardboard as the ones inside the game box, all stereotypes and convoluted back stories. Even when some intriguing context about McCarthyism and blackmail is presented in the opening scene, it’s soon cast aside in favor of wall-to-wall pratfalls and schtick.

So when folks start turning up dead, you’re unlikely to care, especially when you’re presented with a multiverse of murder scenarios in which everybody seems to have killed someone at some point.

But if you’re in the mood for something outrageously silly and totally devoid of substance, “Clue” may be the show for you. Director Hushion certainly keeps things moving, and she has a fine off-the-wall master of ceremonies in Mark Price as the slapsticky butler, Wadsworth. He’s hosting a group of guests at a rural New England mansion on a stormy night, and the pseudonyms they’re asked to assume will be familiar to anyone who’s played the game.

As will the settings the characters slip into and out of over the course of the show: the library, the lounge, the billiard room, the hallway. They’re all vividly created by designer Lee Savage, whose set is a success of grand proportions. And Jen Caprio’s 1950s costumes are faithful to what Hasbro hath wrought, as well.

But don’t go expecting anything of any nutritional value, as stories go. For “Clue” is just about speed, silliness and relentless physical comedy. On that account, Price fills his role well, as does John Shartzer as the rubber-limbed bundle of nerves that is Mr. Green. And there’s some charisma to be found in John Treacy Egan’s dim-witted Colonel Mustard and Michelle Elaine’s gregarious madam, Miss Scarlet.

But there’s one thing those manic comedians like Winters and Williams had that Rustin’s script lacks: Cleverness. Sure, there’s a bit of wit bantered about, but you might get the suspicion that the production’s pace is intended to mask its paucity of any particularly funny dialogue.

That said, when we finally abandon the multiple ending idea – we get our choice of six – the final take-off on the detective’s declarative denouement from your typical whodunit proves a satisfying conclusion. But even that seems as apropos of nothing as most of this murderous fluff.

Rob Hubbard can be reached at wordhub@yahoo.com.

‘Clue’

When: 7:30 p.m. Friday, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday

Where: Orpheum Theatre, 910 Hennepin Ave., Mpls.

Tickets: $109-$35, available at hennepintheatretrust.org

Capsule: All speed and silliness, but not a very clever “Clue.”

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Chicago Bears guard Nate Davis paid $2.3 million in May for a five-bedroom, 5,537-square-foot house in Highland Park.

A Virginia native who previously had played for the Tennessee Titans, Davis signed a three-year, $30 million deal with the Bears in March. He battled injuries in his first year with the team, including missing four games later in the season with a high ankle sprain.

Built in 2003 and designed by Evanston architect Michael Hershenson, Davis’ new house has five bathrooms, three fireplaces, a kitchen with a butler’s pantry, a family room with built-ins and a wall of windows and a wood-paneled study on the first floor. Other features include a four-season sunroom that offers ravine views and a primary suite with a second office, a private screened porch, dual custom walk-in closets and heated floors.

Downstairs on the lower level, the house has a game room, a kitchenette and a fitness room.

The house sits on a 1.28-acre property and is accessed via a wooded private drive.

The agent who represented Davis, Paul Gorney of eXp Realty, could not be reached for comment.

The house had a $52,785 property tax bill in the 2022 tax year.

Bob Goldsborough is a freelance writer.

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