In its first year, Lawrence & Memorial Hospital cared for nearly 300 patients, among them one schooner captain, three bootblacks, two sailors, one art instructor, six farmers, one fish dealer, one velvet shearer, one shoemaker, 60 schoolchildren and 96 housewives.

They came in need of treatment for alcoholism, malarial fever, typhoid fever, tuberculosis and a host of other diseases, and for surgeries ranging from amputations to repairs for gunshot wounds and to give birth to 43 children. The very first patients were two ditch diggers injured a short distance from the hospital when their Ocean Avenue worksite collapsed.

Since the day the hospital opened on April 8, 1912, as the Joseph Lawrence Free Public Hospital, the hospital has provided care for thousands and shepherded more than 136,000 new lives into the world. This spring, as the hospital - which became Lawrence & Memorial after a merger in 1918 - prepares to celebrate its centennial, those involved in the planning are poring over old photographs, researching old documents and planning a series of major events.

"We want to celebrate this milestone that only comes once in a lifetime," said Bill Stanley, vice president of Development and Community Relations at L&M, who is in charge of the planning. "We're putting on first-class events. We're not nickel and diming it, but we're not being extravagant either."

The milestone, he said, is significant not only for L&M's current employees and retirees, but for the entire southeastern Connecticut Community. Between the main hospital and satellite facilities in Waterford, Groton, East Lyme, Old Saybrook and other local towns, few residents of the entire region could be found who haven't had some significant episode of their life at L&M.

"They were either born here, or their kids were born here, or their kids came here when they fell off their bike or got injured in football," said Stanley. Others were treated for cancer or strokes, or came to visit hospitalized relatives or say goodbye in their last hours.

To plan the events, the hospital set up an events committee, a reunion committee and a history committee. Members include current staff, retirees and members of the community.

"Isn't it exciting, to think we're 100 years old?" asked Naomi Rachleff, 82, a member of all three committees and a former hospital director. "I started volunteering at the hospital as a candystriper when I was 14 years old, and I'm still a believer."

On the actual anniversary day on Easter, L&M will treat employees working that day to a holiday meal, and repeat the feast later that week for other staff. Annual hospital events like the Spring Stride in May and the volunteer recognition dinner will be enhanced with a special centennial theme. Retiree reunions and an employee picnic at Ocean Beach Park in August are also being planned. A new logo with "celebrating a century of care" is being introduced, and a special commemorative publication is being prepared that will both chronicle L&M's history and look forward to its next 100 years, said Mike O'Farrell, hospital spokesman.

The major event of the centennial, Stanley said, will be the "black tie optional" May 19 gala at Mohegan Sun. It will include a dinner, silent auction and live band, with tickets selling for $100 each. Proceeds will go toward L&M's new cancer center.

About 1,200 to 1,300 tickets will be available for the event. Already 70 local businesses have signed on as sponsors, donating a total of $300,000 to date. Major donors thus far include Mohegan Sun, Connecticut Light & Power-Yankee Gas, The Day, A/Z Corp., Smith Insurance Agency and Antonino Auto Group, Stanley said.

"This is the biggest event we've ever done, and the early reception from the community has been phenomenal," said Stanley.