PILOT ROCK — Mayanna Kopp lives in Pilot Rock and has been a longtime subscriber of the East Oregonian. She celebrated her 90th birthday on July 12, 2020, but the coronavirus pandemic prevented the family gathering that was planned. Needless to say, she was disappointed.

To ease that disappointment, son Ron Kopp of Condon submitted a request in June to Ruralite magazine, the electric co-op publication throughout the West, for readers to send cards to Mayanna to help her celebrate her milestone birthday. The response to the request was overwhelming.

Starting on July 6, and continuing to Aug. 14, 613 cards, letters, greetings and best wishes for a Happy Birthday arrived in the mail. She was surprised each and every day at the number of cards she was receiving, and it led to her being excited for the next day’s mail. Cards were mailed from 14 states and more than 250 different cities.

Mayanna was able to celebrate her birthday for an entire month, and she is grateful to all of those folks who sent cards. Getting these cards from Ruralite readers throughout the Western United States gave her a wonderful birthday present.