Charlie Adams just celebrated his 90th birthday with a little help from some of his fellow volunteers at the Westbrook Food Pantry site at St. Mark Church. The group, which has affectionately nicknamed Charlie the "Egg Man," threw him a surprise party honoring him for his 20 years of volunteerism and to celebrate his momentous birthday.

"It was definitely a surprise, and I was very happy. These people are a great group who are very kind, friendly, and dedicated, and I have enjoyed working with them over the years," says a grateful Charlie.

Charlie has been manning the egg station since he began volunteering at the pantry 20 years ago when a friend at St. Marks Church asked if he would help out-hence the "Egg Man" moniker. He is proud to proclaim that, even back when the fresh eggs were delivered in bulk pallets and he and the other volunteers had to fill the empty egg cartons by hand, he never broke an egg.

But serving as a volunteer at the Food Pantry isn't the only kind of serving Charlie has ever done. This modest man has lived through three wars-World War II, Korea, and Vietnam-and served his country in each one of them.

He believes that growing up in Missouri on a farm prepared him for a life in the military. A strong commitment to family and duty taught him early on how to survive, do what needed to get done, and keep on going. Charlie served for 28 years as a Naval aviation commander. One of his primary duties was aboard the USS Shangri-La, a 27,000-ton aircraft carrier. He was responsible for ensuring the safe landing of planes on the flight deck, regardless of conditions like violent storms and near-impossible visibility at night.

He said life on the farm taught him to set goals and follow through with them, which led him to a successful life in the military, but it wasn't the military that brought this soldier to Westbrook; it was love. He met his wife, Martha Burus, in Hartford and after traveling around the world in the military, she brought him back to Westbrook, where her parents lived, to settle down in 1971. Martha passed away eight years ago, but Charlie has been here ever since.

"I've been very happy here in Westbrook. It's a nice, little quiet town and there are some wonderful people here," says Charlie.

Now Charlie stays active, getting back to his farming roots, cultivating his own patch of garden vegetables each year as well as a small, vibrantly colored flower garden filled with marigolds, zinnias, and cosmos. When his is not tending to his gardening, Charlie enjoys spending time with his friends. He also has a son who lives in Virginia and three granddaughters and a grandson.

Not one to boast about his accomplishments or his great service to this country, Charlie says he just tries to stay active as much as he can.

"I would say to just stay active and get out there in the community and give your time when you can, or else you will shrivel up," he says.

"Commander Adams" (another nickname for this upbeat peronality) also stays active at the Westbrook Elks Lodge every other month volunteering his time there for monthly blood drives.