“Getting old is not all that bad!”

So proclaimed Mary Hill, affectionately known as “the belle of Excel,” after being named Ms. Savannah Terrace Thursday afternoon.

Mrs. Hill is an Excel, Ala., native who moved to Andalusia after her marriage. She worked for many years at CCB Community Bank. She also learned sign language, and helped with the deaf ministry at First Baptist Church.

Mrs. Hill is always willing to pose for a photograph, and says, “Just smile. In five years you’ll look at it and say, ‘Oh, I was so young.’ ”

At Savannah Terrace, she enjoys walking the grounds and visiting with other residents.

She has two children, four grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.

Her husband, the late John Hill, was the longtime CEO of Covington Electric Cooperative, and a former newspaper editor. He also was well-known as a Sunday School teacher at FBC.

First alternate was Mrs. Donnie Manner, a Tennessee native who moved to Alabama in 1958. She enjoys reading, coloring, and looking at pictures of her five grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

Second alternate was Mrs. Marilyn Hill, a native of New York. Mrs. Hill and her husband of 66 years, Elmer Lister Hill, recently celebrated their anniversary. She loves music from the 1940s, and advises friends, “Hold no hatery in your heart, and praise!”