Photo by Deb Gau This weekend, Pete Labat and his family and friends found ways to celebrate Pete’s 100th birthday while social distancing. A World War II aircraft flew over Pete’s home at Boulder Estates on Friday, and a “walk-by” party was held at Pete’s window on Saturday.

MARSHALL — You only turn 100 once, so Pete Labat’s family wanted to pull out the stops to celebrate.

“We wanted to do something really special for 100,” said Joyce Persoon, Labat’s daughter. The tricky part was figuring out how to celebrated while still following COVID-19 safety rules. “You can’t have an open house.”

Their solution was to have a World War II training airplane fly over Marshall on Friday in honor of Pete’s service in WWII. Pete, his wife Irene, and family and friends spread out on the lawn in front of Boulder Estates and looked skyward. The plane, which Persoon said was flying in from Brookings, S.D., circled a couple of times, while everyone looked skyward.

The flyover was a fitting celebration. Pete was a corporal in the Army Air Force, who served from 1942 to 1946. He was an airplane mechanic, although he said he didn’t work on the type of plane that made the flyover — he fixed B-26 bombers.

The flyover was just one part of the party for Pete this weekend. Instead of an open house, family and friends held a “walk-by” on Saturday — while wearing face masks, they stopped by the Labats’ window at Boulder Estates to wish Pete well.

Some guests brought posters or signs with birthday wishes that could be seen from outside the window. Persoon said family members also tried to get 100 birthday cards for Pete to celebrate. The effort had even better results than they hoped. Pete received more than 300 cards on his birthday.

Through the window screen, the Labats could be seen looking festive. Pete had a hat for the occasion, a cap reading “Not everyone looks this good at 100.”

The Labats said it was good to see everyone at the festivities. The only drawback was the fall chill in the air — “I wish it wasn’t as cold,” Pete Labat said.