Caruso’s coffee group celebrates 98th birthday of oldest member

The usual morning routine for the group of men assembled inside Caruso’s Candy & Soda Shop played out a bit differently on Wednesday.

Five members of the shop’s coffee group, Jim Sayer, Bob Jirgl,

Jim McWilliams, Doug McKay and Jack Revette celebrated the 98th birthday of their oldest member, Herb Anderson. The men presented their fellow java-aficionado with a candle-filled coffee cake, a card, presents and, perhaps most important of all, the right to help decide which of them would pay for the drinks that morning.

Anderson has been a member of the group since 1955, when he moved to the Dowagiac area for the first time. Since then, he has been regular presence at their six-day a week gatherings, especially since his retirement from the Social Security Office in 1973, he said.

“When you get to be my age, you don’t see too many people, so this is a nice form of recreation every morning,” Anderson said.

A native of Gladstone, Michigan, Anderson is currently living off Cable Lake. Anderson drives himself into town every morning to meet with the group, Revette, his son-in-law, said.

Before his retirement, Anderson had worked with Social Security since 1939, working in Maryland before moving out to Muskegon to work out at the branch office opened there. In 1941, he was drafted into the U.S. Army, where he served overseas during World War II.

During his time with the 36th infantry division, Anderson served on fronts in Africa, Italy, France and Germany.

“We did what we had to do,” he said, reflecting on years of service. “There wasn’t really a choice in the matter.”

He returned to the Social Security office at the end of the conflict, where he went to work at the newly opened Benton Harbor office, he said, deciding to move to Dowagiac and make the commute to work.

Anderson has been active part of the community since then, serving three years on the city council during the early 70s. He has been a part of the local Lions and Elks Club since 1957.

The group has been meeting at Caruso’s for more than 50 years, said Sayer. It draws its origins back to the old Harvey’s café back around 1951, which was located across the street’s from Caruso’s back then, Sayer said.

“We would go over there, have some coffee and read some news,” he said.

When Harvey’s closed down, the gentlemen moved over to Caruso’s, where they’ve been ever since.

“Some of the time, there were 11 to 17 us there,” Sayer said. “Other times, there were only three or four of us, especially during the winter.”

Their morning routine is the same as various other coffee clubs around the globe, from the metropolis of Chicago to the Caribbean shores of Haiti, Jirgl said.