Glamorous granny will continue fundraising

Mary Fulham is a 'cool granny' according to son David, daughter-in-law Jenny and the three children who nominated her for the Westmeath Glamorous Granny competition, organised by the Special Olympics fundraising committee.Of all the nominees put forward for the award Mary was chosen to represent Westmeath at a ceremony in Tullamore where 16 grannies from across the country competed to see who would go forward to the national final.'I didn"t make it but I think that was because I"m not old enough yet and am not your average granny anyway. Maybe I"ll go back again in 20 years time and I"ll win it then,' she laughed.'But the night in Tullamore was fantastic, it felt like we were all in the Rose of Tralee. Before I left Mullingar I went to First Floor and they treated me to champagne and strawberries while I was getting my hair done.'The 51-year-old mum of four and grandmother of ten is enjoying the freedom of being a granny and loves the fact that she can enjoy her grandchildren without the hard bits like having to discipline them.'I get to do all the fun stuff and take them out and give them treats and have fun with them. I don"t really have to babysit. I would of course if there was an emergency but it has never come up and of course I work full-time in the post-office as well so I don"t have a lot of spare time I"m always rushing from one place to another.'I have a great social life and a wonderful circle of friends who include me in everything. I lost my husband Iggy last year and although we were divorced we still remained friends.'You could say that I have nearly gone back to my teenage years now and I intend to enjoy myself.'Mary still has plans to raise more funds for the Special Olympics committee and if her bad knee allows she will be taking part in the Dublin Women"s mini-marathon on June 1.'I had to get sponsored to enter the Glamorous Granny competition but I will still like to do another fundraising night on the back of that,' said Mary.'I want to do it right so it"ll take a bit of planning but there will definitely be a good night"s craic somewhere soon. The people I work with in the Post Office are well used to me bringing in sponsor card for one thing or another.'