St. Patrick’s Home for the Aged celebrated seven women who have each seen over 100 years of life last Tuesday, as staff, residents and family members gathered to say happy birthday to their "centenarians."

Sitting in her Bedford Park office smoking an extra-long Kent cigarette, Rita Kessler, the venerable den mother of Community Board 7 (CB7), spent a recent Friday morning spinning tales about her early years as district manager.

Last Friday afternoon, a 22-year-old man walked into a barber shop on Andrews Avenue near Fordham Road. There was a bit of a wait and the barbers told him to come back in a few minutes. The young man turned around, walked outside and headed slowly down the block.

There is a 150-year-old tradition of artistic and literary immersion among Cuban torcedores, or cigar rollers that continues to this day. While cutting and rolling cigars, torcedores spend their days listening to rich cultural tales such as "Don Quixote" and "Les Miserables."

Due to a severe cut in federal funding, more than 100 after-school programs citywide, including a handful in the northwest Bronx, will not reopen this fall unless replacement money is found.

Roberta Carvajal already has the name and the menu already for her catering business. Now she just needs a business plan and the financing to get it started.

Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz awarded Mosholu Preservation Corporation (publisher of the Norwood News) $35,000 for neighborhood improvements in the area surrounding the Jerome-Gun Hill Business Improvement District (BID).

Onstage • Lehman Stages’ SUMMERWORX Festival will present free family summer events. Next up is Shakespeare’s The Tempest from July 12 to 22 at 8 p.m. at Lehman’s outdoor amphitheatre. The college is located at 250 Bedford Park Boulevard W. at Goulden Avenue. For more information, call (718) 960-8211/8109. • Lehman Chamber Wind Ensemble will present classical works at Lehman College’s Lovinger Theatre on June 30 at 4 p.m. The college is located at 250 Bedford Park Boulevard W. at Goulden Avenue. For more information, call the college’s music department at (718) 960-8247. • Join the Bronx Arts Ensemble in

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With all the major projects and changes facing the northwest Bronx’s Community Board 7 – the Kingsbridge Armory redevelopment, a massive water filtration plant construction project and the rezoning of Webster Avenue, just to name a few – the 141,411-resident district is going to need strong leadership.