Hanover's Iron Man: Les Savino still going strong at 100

August 27 was Leslie “Les” V. Savino’s birthday.

More specifically, it was Savino’s 100th birthday.

You would never guess that, watching Savino pump iron in the men’s wellness center at the Hanover YMCA, where Savino has shown up to work out nearly every single weekday from 7:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. since 1983.

“They say practice makes perfect, and I’ve been practicing for a very long time,” Savino said, laughing, while banging out 45 reps of a bicep curl.

Every weekday morning, Savino follows the same routine, driving himself from the retirement community where he lives, Homewood at Plum Creek, to the Hanover YMCA. He takes the elevator to the second-floor wellness center, then arrives at the same locker he’s had since his first day in 1983.

“I picked this locker because of the window, but now there’s just a building there,” Savino notes as he gestures toward a windowless brick wall.

On one of Savino’s regular anaerobic workout days, he hits a total of 900 reps split between 15 machines. On his aerobic days, you can catch Savino powering through eight miles on a bicycle machine and two miles on a treadmill.

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But Friday, Aug. 26, brought more than just a workout for Savino, who walked into the Hanover YMCA to find the lobby decorated with balloons, streamers, cupcakes, and an adoring fan base of staff, friends, and YMCA members awaiting Savino’s perfectly on-time daily arrival.

“Everybody just loves Les,” said Laurie Jacoby, one of the Hanover YMCA’s customer service staff that helped plan the surprise party for Savino, standing in a custom T-shirt celebrating Savino’s 100th birthday. “He’s my favorite.”

It’s no surprise the staff and members at the Hanover YMCA should know Savino so well: he has only missed six months in the nearly 40 years he has come to the YMCA. All six of those months occurred in a row after Savino suffered a back injury that required major surgery.

Savino has lived quite the life.

Born in Massachusetts as one of seven first-generation American children of his Italian immigrant parents, Savino was attending the University of Massachusetts when the second World War broke out. He soon dropped out of school to become a pilot in the U.S. Army Air Corps, flying B-17 bombers for the military before becoming a flight instructor training bombardiers and navigators at Langley Air Field in Virginia. Savino served four years in the military, then returned to college to finish his degree.

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Savino’s experiences commanding aircraft soon led to commanding businesses, and Savino found himself in Hanover after taking a job with Hanover Brands, Inc., now known as Hanover Foods.

Byron Groft, one of Savino’s workout buddies, even remembered working for Savino back in the 1960s, when Groft was a teenaged stacker for Hanover Brands. “He was management,” said Groft, noting Savino was one of the guys he’d always see working in a suit and tie.

Not just any man in a suit, Savino would eventually be named Vice President of Manufacturing and Operations of Hanover Brands, Inc., in 1970. Savino ultimately worked there for a total of 40 years before he left and started his own local corporate consulting business.

Savino was married 70 years to his wife, Barbara Savino, who died twelve years ago. The Savinos had four children, four grandchildren and two great grandchildren.

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While Savino finally retired 17 years ago at the age of 83, as recently as five years ago, he was still taking consulting calls from businesses he advised.

Despite this strategic career advising businesses on carefully thought out and planned moves, many at the Hanover YMCA know Savino for his sharp wit.

When prompted for advice to the younger generation, Savino replies without any pause, “get off your [butt] and do something.” In describing his time as an appointed member of the Hanover YMCA board, Savino recalls “I raised hell every meeting.”

“He’s a piece of work,” said workout buddy Vic McCloskey, laughing, while exercising with Savino in the wellness center.

Savino has few answers for those looking for his secret to such longevity.

Was it his favorite meal?

“Spaghetti with meatballs, but only when I make it, old Italian style.”Was it his drink of choice?

“Vodka martini, with an olive.”

Ultimately, Savino can only direct those curious to one fundamental value:

“There’s no secret, it’s just perseverance,” he says as he continued his bicep curls.

“You just gotta stick with it.’

This article originally appeared on Hanover Evening Sun: 100th birthday: Hanover's Les Savino going strong at the century mark