A 92-year-old started walking around Lowe’s after a stroke, and eight years later the staff turned her 100th birthday into a storewide party

For the past five years, an Illinois woman has spent most of her mornings doing laps around the outer aisles of a home improvement store. Gretchen Sollo, who took up the routine after a stroke at 92, has now turned 100, and the staff at the Lowe’s in Bradley, Illinois, surprised her with a party just before the milestone, according to People.

The Kankakee resident has logged an estimated 1,500 miles inside the store, walking three to four laps on each visit. She arrived for what she thought was an extended birthday walk, then found about 50 people lining a decorated aisle with a blue carpet and an arch of balloons. Some of the employees came in on their day off just to be there for her.

Sollo’s son Hugh joined the crowd, and the team presented her with a cake and a custom Lowe’s vest of her own. Store manager Joe Jackson, who organized the celebration, even gave her the honorary title of “store mom,” as she had become a familiar face to just about everyone working there. The party was also the first birthday party of her life, by her own account.

The Lowe’s crew says Gretchen Sollo feels like family at this point

Jackson first met Sollo last year during her morning routine, and the two struck up a friendship as he started joining her on laps around the store. “It’s kind of like we’re having a birthday party for our grandma,” Joe Jackson said. He added that her walking inspired him, and he now makes sure to talk with her every time she comes in.

Store associate Vicki Jernagin has known Sollo since she first started walking the aisles about five years ago. Jernagin compared the routine to a racetrack, saying Sollo keeps going until she reaches three or four laps around the store. “To be 100 and still walking like that, it’s amazing,” Vicki Jernagin said. Workers also notice when Sollo doesn’t show up at her usual time, according to Jernagin.

Sollo was born in 1926 in Chebanse, Illinois, as one of nine children on a farm without electricity or running water. She later worked at a factory owned by David Bradley Manufacturing before becoming a seamstress known for her draperies. She was married to Joseph for six years before he died of cancer, and the couple had three sons, including Hugh, whom she now lives with in Kankakee.

The guest of honor admitted that a party was never something she wanted. “I never wanted a birthday party,” Gretchen Sollo said, before joking that she probably missed out on a lot. However, the surprise left her stunned, as she said she still couldn’t wrap her mind around it. She credits her long life to being raised healthy on homegrown food, plus a nightly whiskey she calls good for you.

The Bradley team isn’t the first store crew to throw a party for a loyal regular, as McDonald’s employees surprised a 95-year-old customer with a handmade cake. The Bradley celebration had an extra layer, however, as Sollo’s daily laps began as a way to protect her mobility after the stroke she suffered eight years ago.

With the milestone behind her, Sollo is expected to keep up her morning laps at the Bradley store, where employees say they will be watching the door for her at her usual time.