The National Football Foundation’s Georgia chapter recently recognized Orlean Castronis with its Distinguished American Award.
She is a retired journalist and the widow of one of the most popular players and coaches ever to wear the Red and Black.
The Distinguished American Award is presented to a friend of sports who has maintained a lifelong interest in the game, exhibited leadership qualities, and made significant contributions to the betterment of amateur football.
The chapter doesn’t have a longevity award, but if it did, she would win it without question.
Orlean is a sprightly 102-year-old. Proficiently ambulatory and wearing a perpetual smile, she bounded up to the podium with prepared remarks in hand. Without her reading glasses, she spoke briefly, expressing sincere thanks to everyone for “this wonderful honor.”
Looking much younger than her age, Orlean does not claim any secret potion for longevity, but once you learn her daily routine, it becomes clear that exercise is one of her greatest allies.
Until recently, she drove herself in her 2007 Honda to the YMCA in Athens for a daily workout. Her son, Mike Castronis, now takes her to the “Y” three days a week, where she exercises for a couple of hours: half an hour on the treadmill, half an hour on the stepper, and half an hour lifting weights.
It is a relaxed routine with brief rests in between, but consistency is her hallmark.
She rarely takes a day off. When her exercise session ends, Orlean might go grocery shopping, depending on what’s on the menu at her residence village. She believes fresh fruits and vegetables help keep her going.
A big smile accompanies the disclosure that, as the evening shadows encroach, she ends her day with a couple of vodka tonics.
“I certainly have an affinity for sipping casually as I watch the news,” she said. “I have always been a fan of the news, although I don’t care for some of the characters who dominate the nightly news.”
A proud graduate of the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, she worked for International News Service during World War II. Her office was located at the corner of Marietta and Broad streets, and her beat was the Georgia State Capitol.
“That meant that when the legislature was in session, I had to walk over to the Capitol to cover the political scene,” she said. “That was pretty good exercise. I enjoyed that, and I keep up with the news. I guess you could say I enjoy politics, but there are a few politicians I don’t like.”
A native of Augusta, Orlean came to the University of Georgia as a freshman in 1941 and enrolled at Grady College.
By 1944, when she graduated, World War II was raging on two fronts, which meant opportunities for women were expanding rapidly. She consistently enrolled in summer school, allowing her to graduate early.
Her husband-to-be, Mike Castronis, was declared 4F because of a pickup softball injury. He was blocking the plate as a catcher when a baserunner collided with him and, as Orlean describes it, “caused his kidney to explode.”
Although he did not have to go off to war, he was cleared to play football and lettered in 1943, 1944, and 1945 as a three-time All-SEC lineman.
Interestingly, Mike was selected as an All-American in 1945 by the International News Service, Orleans’s employer, though she insists she had no influence on the decision.
“Coach Mike,” as he became known, grew into one of the most beloved personalities in the history of Georgia Bulldogs football athletics, but was perhaps best known statewide for his work with the Athens Y camp at Tallulah Falls.
He became so popular and well known that friends joked he would have been a lock to win if he ever ran for governor.
Every home-game Saturday, Orlean can still be found at Sanford Stadium cheering on the “Dogs” — the appropriate spelling from her undergraduate days — and never complaining about the weather.
Alongside her daughters, Mary and Helen, and her son, Mike, she attends rain or shine.
“We really like the night games,” she said. “I was happy to see them name the field for Coach Vince Dooley. He made arrangements for us to keep our tickets, and we will always be grateful for that.”
While she never said so directly, Orlean’s favorite song might well be Thanks for the Memory, made famous by Bob Hope.
She has accumulated countless memories throughout her life, including a memorable phone call to the famous entertainer while working at International News Service.
“There was a rumor that he had been in a plane crash in the Tampa area, and I was advised by an editor to ‘find out,’” she recalled. “So, I got him on the phone and asked him. He laughed and said, ‘No, I am sitting here, enjoying talking to you.’”
Now that she has passed the century mark, Orlean has set her sights even higher.
“I think I’ll go for 200,” she said.
Don’t bet against her.