Helen Collins says she's old-but she'll never be accused of acting her age.

"I don't act quite as old as people expect," says Helen, who celebrated her 99th birthday in July.

Helen certainly stays busy. She's not only a member of the residents council at the Hearth at Tuxis Pond, where she has lived for almost a decade, but she is also an active member of the knitting and bridge clubs, goes to church every week, and does her own errands.

"I have no clue what the secret is," Helen says. "I think it's having an interest in people. Or maybe, not being wrapped up in yourself."

That would certainly describe Helen, who lists "saying hello to people" as among her favorite pastimes.

Brought up to give everyone the time of day, she says, Helen is a good listener who is known around the Hearth for taking the time to recruit new residents to the facility's various clubs.

Since much of what the knitting club produces goes to charity, including afghans for Hartford's Village for Families and Children, more members means more to give away.

Helen says when she sees a new face, she asks, "Do you knit? Do you play bridge? If they say, 'Yes,' I give them the details. If they say they haven't in a long time, I bring them needles and yarn."

She is also willing to instruct new members. Helen's mother taught her to knit when she was a little girl, then "the years go by…and [I] didn't pick it up again until maybe 50 years ago. But I didn't do a heck of a lot until I came here" to the Hearth.

A second Hearth knitting club makes caps for cancer patients. Before Helen moved to Madison, she belonged to the New Haven Women's Club, knitting caps for newborns.

"In between, I'd knit a couple dozen hats for the city welfare agency for men and women coming in-their heads would be cold."

Last winter, she saw an article about Harbor House. She called the treatment facility and decided to donate some hats she had been keeping in her room in case someone needed them. A Hearth driver made a delivery to Harbor-it was a bag that contained almost two dozen hats.

"When you get older, you need to do something with your hands," she said.

Helen also knits scarves and baby blankets in case she meets someone who needs one. She's reluctant to call what she does charity, however.

"It's good for me, too. I have an ulterior motive. It keeps my hands and brain going. You have to follow a pattern to know what you're doing."

At the Hearth nine years this week, Helen's fellow knitting club members are her biggest fans.

"Helen is the backbone of the club," says club member Pat Lawlor, a recreation assistant at the Hearth and a friend of Helen's. "She recruits people for us; she plays bridge several times a week. She brought up four children by herself and she's amazing. She's a people magnet."

Helen, who is as sharp as a tack and whose favorite games include Webster's Words and Rummikub, says she also "plays Scrabble…of course to win."

A 25-year fan of UConn women's basketball, and a Red Sox supporter, Helen was born Helen Casey on July 20, 1912, in New Haven, where she grew up. Although she was trained as a schoolteacher, Helen only taught one year (5th grade in East Haven) before marriage kept her from the profession in 1933.

A Depression-era wedding, she says, meant "a very quiet, small wedding," after which she and her husband moved to Hamden, then to North Guilford, shortly after which he died.

Helen never remarried after becoming a widow. She moved back to the southern end of Hamden, where she lived for 44 years and raised her four children, bringing them up by herself, and finally retiring at 73.

As for sacrifices, she says, "You just do what you have to do. When I was growing up, that's the way it was."

Helen didn't go to work until her youngest had started school. Before ultimately becoming an employee of the State of Connecticut, Helen worked as a secretary and even for a sugar broker: "Instead of money, he handled sugar. They sold to bakeries and soda works and ice cream makers. The minimum order was five tons."

Helen's four children, eight grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren have come from all over the country to mark Helen's birthday in recent weeks, though Helen notes "there's no one of my generation left." The event was even attended by descendants of her late husband, now deceased 64 years.

Helen says she's not giving any thought to next year's birthday (her 100th).

"I want it to be just a day. Ninety-nine seemed to be the right year to do it. I'm well and still clear up here."

To nominate a person of the week, contact Sunny Bosco at 203-245-1877, ext. 6146 or s.bosco@shorepublishing.com.