?Leap Year babies? stay young

by Peter Jakey– Managing Editor

Only 1 in 1,461 babies around the world are born on that once-every-four-years calendar quirk, Febriuary 29 ? Leap Year Day. There are roughly 200,000 Leap Day babies in the U.S., who will have an official ?Birth Date? they can circle on the calendar this year and there are quite a few that call Presque Isle County home. David Knopf of Rogers City will be celebrating his birthday this week by reaching a double-digit milestone. In Leap Day terms, he will be hitting the big ?1-0? mark this week.

David, who is the son of Eldon and Sally Knopf of Belknap Township, was born at Rogers City Hospital in 1968. Interestingly enough, the late Ed and Helen LaTarte?s son Eddie was born at the hospital that same day. Sally was four days late, leaving her son with a birthday once every four years. ?When he was four years old, we made two birthday cakes,? said Sally. One cake had one candle on it, signifying his first official birthday, while the other had four candles on it. Sally said when David was younger he wondered why all his friends had birthdays and he had to wait for his.

PRESQUE ISLE Township resident Jessica (Brege) Dietlin, who was born three weeks past her due date, said Leap Day babies tend to get teased a lot, a sentiment shared by others born on the day. Dietlin says her husband John gets some friendly ribbing from their workmates for ?robbing the cradle.? The 28-year-old?s Leap Day age will be seven this week. Both work for Omni Metal Craft of Alpena. ?We take it in stride,? said Dietlin, who usually celebrates on the 28th during the in-between years. February 29 tends to be a bit more festive with more gifts and goodies. Jessica said, besides getting her share of birthday cake from parents, in-laws, and her husband, she?ll be going out for dinner with friends Friday night. Birthdays mean more than cake. When it comes to earning and renewing a driver’s license, or reaching the legal age to drink, the government can’t allow people to just pick and choose when they officially become a year older.

?I had to wait,? said Jessica, remembering when she turned 21. Since 18 and 21 are not multiples of four, no one with a February 29 birthday will ever reach those milestone anniversaries on a leap year. This forces the state to settle the question: What day is a leaper?s legal birthday? A single sentence in Section 257.4A of the Michigan Vehicle Code defines what a birthday is, and it says that everyone born on February 29 are deemed to have been born on March 1. So, for an underage Leap Year baby — sometimes called a “leapling,” “leapie,” or “leaper” — a Michigan driver?s license will proclaim “UNDER 21” in bright red letters until March 1

of their 21st year.

SOME LEAP babies don?t get worked up and instead turn lemons into lemonade. Take Dave McGlone of Rogers City for instance. Besides getting one of his best birthday presents ever from his wife Cheri, a 2008 Chevrolet Silverado, he has a lot of fun with his age. The retired wastewater treatment plant superintendent says he started working for the city when he was five and recently retired at 13-1/2. He also had his first drink at 4-_, — on March 1, of course. ?To be honest, it?s just like everybody else,? said McGlone, ?when you get older, you don?t worry about celebrating birthdays.?

This one is probably going to be different considering the new pickup truck, which he really wanted when he retired, is the first new truck he has ever owned. And on his next official birthday in four years, he should officially be the owner.

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