A 103-year-old woman was sworn in as a Grand Canyon National Park Junior Ranger as the park gears up to celebrate its 100th birthday.
Rose Torphy, 103, was sworn in as a junior park ranger while she was on her second visit to Arizona's Grand Canyon on January 14. Torphy, a lifelong Cubs fan, had made the trip west from her home state, Illinois.
Torphy learned about the Junior Ranger program when she and her daughter, Cheri Stoneburner, stopped in at the South Rim park store at the Grand Canyon Visitor Center.
Rose Torphy, 103, was sworn in as a Junior Ranger during her visit to the Grand Canyon National Park on January 14. She is three years older than that national park itself
Torphy was on her second visit to the Grand Canyon at the time. She is shown here at the 'edge' of the canyon. She first traveled to the park in 1985 with her husband
'I started talking to people about the junior ranger program because it teaches kids to protect the Canyon,' she told Good Morning America, adding that although her parents 'taught me to care for the land but not all kids have that.'
The program is primarily aimed at kids ages 4 and up and normally requires children to participate in a series of activities such as attending a ranger-led program, drawing pictures and writing a poem, before they take the Junior Ranger pledge and receive an official badge, according to the park's website. There does not appear to be a maximum age to participate in the program.
Video from Torphy's visit shows her taking the pledge to protect the park at the store, wearing her badge and signing and proudly displaying her certificate.
Under normal circumstances, Torphy would've had to have a park ranger sign off on her activities, but because she happened to be visiting
