ORANGE PARK – There’s too much to do for Janet Myers to slow down and look back.

There are hundreds of residents at Moosehaven to chronicle. There is work with BASCA, monthly teas, trips to New York City to see plays and museums, three workouts a week, daily bike rides and Florida Gator basketball games to watch.

So, who cares if she’s about to turn 83?

“I don't miss going to work every day,” Janet said. “But that doesn’t mean I’m slowing down.”

Although she retired as a teacher in her late 60s, she said the secret to not growing old is staying busy, both mentally and physically. She’s always working on something, whether it’s organizing the monthly tea with fellow Moosehaven residents or conducting an exchange between residents of unwanted items, with leftovers being donated to BASCA’s thrift store to help individuals with intellectual and developmental differences in Northeast Florida.

“I volunteer for a lot of things,” Janet said. “I just finished a big project with seventh and eighth graders. They came over and interviewed some residents, and we put together a biography. It was a big project, and it worked out really well.”

That gave her an idea to carry the project further. She realized that too many residents lived at the facility, died and were forgotten. She decided she wanted to interview as many residents as possible and record their lives to create a footprint of their existence.

“We have two men here in their 90s who fought in World War II, so I want to interview them soon because they won’t be here forever,” she said. “I think it would be nice to create a book here to tell everyone’s story.”

Another one of Janet’s passions is making marmalade. Janet said 11 of her 12 best friends from high school are still alive, and she sent them all a box of goodies two weeks ago.

She graduated from high school in Los Angeles and filled 11 “birthday boxes” with jars of marmalade, chocolate cookies and English toffee, then mailed them to her friends. They all got them on the same day, Janet said.

She has potted Calamondin trees at her house, and they've been trimmed and repotted to produce as many as 300 fruits. That makes a lot of marmalade.

“I love making marmalade,” Janet said. “I stay busy. That’s how you stay young.”