MONMOUTH — She’s the ticket-taker at the top of the stairs at Cumston Hall, the one who chats with folks at intermission, stays after to help clean up. The one who wouldn’t miss a show.

“I’m supposed to be slowing down, but I’m not going to,” said Helen Melledy.

The 90-year-old is reluctantly using a cane, for now, until her back heals, but she hasn’t missed a step.

Melledy started summering in town years ago. When her husband, Eddie, died in 1997, she didn’t want to go back to their California home and opted to stay here full time. The year after that, she found the Theater at Monmouth. She’s been a fixture since.

“The people (in town) were friendly,” she said. “When I came here, they said I didn’t belong here, so I showed them I belong here.”

Producing Director David Greenham arrived at the theater in 1998, and it was through trips to his office that they got to be friends and that she became a loyal volunteer. Melledy’s a grandmother of sorts to his son, Zach.

“It is her adopted town, but she makes Monmouth so much better,” Greenham said.

She’s a regular at fundraising bake sales and likes to bring sweet treats to the dozens of cast members who stay at the theater each summer.

“I like all the kids that are in a performance; I like to see what they’re going to make of their life,” Melledy said.

Greenham, she added, is her taste-tester. “I bring (new recipes) to him to be the guinea pig. I just want to know if it’s good or bad.”

“It’s never bad,” he said. “Except for the low-carb cheesecake.”

Melledy, who also volunteers at the Monmouth Center Church thrift shop every Saturday, grew up on a Connecticut tobacco farm. Her family had 13 children. She was 10 years old when her mother died and she had to assume cooking chores. That’s where she honed her kitchen skills.

“One chicken for 13 people,” she said. “Besides that, I would make a soup out of it the next day.”

She got early needle practice sewing tobacco bundles. Today, for fun, she quilts.

Melledy has been part of several fundraising efforts in town, Greenham said. Next year, the renovated Grange hall will be renamed in her honor.

“Everybody knows her now,” he said. “People look forward to seeing her as much as they look forward to seeing the plays.”

The theater’s summer season will kick off Thursday, with Melledy ripping tickets.

Know someone that everyone knows? We’re always looking for ideas. Contact staff writer Kathryn Skelton at 689-2844 or [email protected].