A woman from Sherwood Park has now lived through two global pandemics. 

Jane Denis, who was born in 1917, celebrated her 103rd birthday on May 7. 

The great-great-grandmother was too young to remember the 1918 flu pandemic, but the COVID-19 pandemic has kept her inside her residence at Chartwell Country Cottage. 

While she didn't think she would be able to celebrate her birthday, her family and the cottage staff found a way. 

A few children from Sherwood Park played the bagpipes and Scottish drums from the street for Denis and a few other residents as they watched from their balconies. 

"I was told to go onto the balcony and I didn't ask any questions. I looked out and my son, his wife, their daughter and her husband were out there to greet me and I was so surprised," said Denis. "It was the greatest surprise birthday I ever had." 

Denis was born in Ontario, the seventh child in a family of 15 siblings. She has seven children, ten grandchildren, 15 great-grandchildren and nine great-great-grandchildren. 

She moved to Sherwood Park in 1976 and recounted what the hamlet was like back then. 

"There were so many empty spaces. We used to go east and there were trees and beautiful brushes and we used to go pick berries there, my friend and I. Right across from where I am, that was all trains. Everything has changed so much." 

Even at 103, Denis still loves to get outside. She'll occasionally go on shopping trips with friends. 

When asked what the secret to a long life is, she laughed and said, "It's easy — if you're born with the right genes, you've got it made."