Two new residents of Cedarhurst of Arnold, Leon and Dora May Pearce, celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary on Oct. 3.

The remarkable feat, known as a platinum anniversary, is particularly special as only 0.1% of married couples reach this momentous occasion.

“We are very lucky,” Leon said. “Everything seemed to click for us. It doesn’t always click for newlyweds, but it did for us.”

Originally from Long Island, the two met on a blind date when they were just 23 and 19, respectively.

“He just started working at a company because he just got out of the service,” Dora May said. “They all invited him to go to a party at a place called Bologna Jones. One of the fellas was going with a girl I was working with, so she asked me if I would like to go.”

As neither of them knew many of the other attendees, Leon and Dora May spent the entire evening dancing to a jukebox. Two months later, the two were engaged.

When asked when he knew he was going to propose to Dora May, Leon replied “a couple hours (after meeting).”

“It just worked out,” he said.

“He danced well, he was a good dancer,” Dora May added. “We didn’t know each other a year before we got married.”

The couple married in the Episcopal Church that Dora May grew up in on Long Island. Following the ceremony, they honeymooned in Pennsylvania where they met “the nicest couples” who they are still friends with today.

“As time (goes) by, you lose track of other people,” Dora May said. “But we stayed friends, we visited back and forth.”

After honeymooning, the two returned to Long Island. To buy their first house, Leon put “$5 down and the G.I. Bill on a thumbtack.”

“That’s all it took, and we were homeowners,” he said.

Though they did not stay in their first house for very long, the couple remained on Long Island up until five months ago when they moved to be closer to their daughter, Diana, who lives in Arnold.

“We were Long Islanders from the start,” Leon said.

Before retirement, Leon worked at a lighting company as an engineer for 41 years. Dora May held a variety of jobs, though she worked the longest – 35 years – at a travel agency, giving the couple many opportunities to travel around the world, including China, Japan, Thailand and “Europe extensively.”

“We both like to travel, so we did a lot of traveling,” Leon said. “We made it clear from the start that that’s what we wanted to do as much as possible.”

Apart from traveling the world, some of the couple’s fondest memories revolve around skiing, dancing on roller skates, boating and camping. When asked if they could relive one moment of their marriage, however, they agreed that the births of their two children, Lee and Diana, would be at the top of the list.

“We’re fortunate. I know we’re very fortunate. We not only have the family we wanted, we lived in a nice house in a nice neighborhood. We were very lucky. He had a great job. We were happy, we trusted each other. This is the roughest part, right here, now, the last few months we’ve been here because I don’t know anybody here,” Dora May said.

Despite being new in town, Cedarhurst of Arnold threw the couple an anniversary party full of cake, champagne and a candlelit dinner.

“I thought it was marvelous, these strangers gave us a party,” Dora May said. “It was amazing that these people were so kind and they gave us a party like that. It was very touching. The cake was amazing, it was a beautiful dinner. Everybody (at Cedarhurst) is so friendly. I know if I need a hug, I can get a hug from anybody.”

When asked what give advice they would give to a newlywed couple, Leon replied:

“It’s a two-way thing. You both have to try to support each other in whatever you decide to do as a couple. That’s the main thing.”

“Don’t go to bed mad,” Dora May added. “Make sure you say ‘goodnight, I love you’ and give them a kiss.”