Victor Wolf

BARK RIVER — Today is Leap Day, an extra day in February that is added to the calendar every four years. For Bark River resident Victor Wolf, this unusual date is significant in another way — he was born on Feb. 29, 1928.

“I’m going to be 92 Saturday,” Wolf said.

However, he has technically only had 23 birthdays in his life.

Wolf was born in Ensign Township. While he was growing up, his birthday occasionally attracted the attention of others.

“When I was eight years old in a one-room school … the schoolteacher had a party for me,” Wolf said.

This continued when Wolf was attending high school in Rapid River.

“They took half a day off — had a dance down at the gym in Rapid River,” Wolf said of his sixteenth birthday.

After high school, Wolf got his bachelor’s degree at Michigan State University and was drafted into the Army. He served for a year in the Korean War before returning to civilian life, living in Milwaukee and St. Paul, Minn.

Wolf then moved back to the Upper Peninsula and worked at the paper mill in Escanaba — which was owned by the Mead Corporation at the time — from 1970 to 1990.

“Then, I retired from there and I’ve been retired ever since,” he said.

While working at Mead, Wolf found that one of his coworkers was also born on Feb. 29. He said this was the only other person he has met who was born on the date.

Even after his retirement, Wolf has continued to hear from people about his birthday.

“I get more comments about ‘oh, you’re finally going to be old enough to drink beer,'” he said.

Today, Wolf said he plans to celebrate by spending some time with friends.

“We’re going to go over to the casino and have a little party,” he said.