Falls Church officials and community members honored a 91-year-old woman today who’s been helping pedestrians cross the street for decades.

Janet Haines has taken her post at Broad and Spring Streets as a city crossing guard for the past 50 years. Twice daily, each 180-day school year, she’s stood at the “busy intersection in all kinds of weather, to greet everyone, and cross our young students to safety,” according to a release from the Catholic Diocese of Arlington. She started the position at $3.20 an hour.

This morning at 7:30 a.m., her greetings were returned with honking horns from passing cars, waving drivers, and congratulatory pedestrians. A police officer even placed a corsage on her wrist.

Today’s milestone anniversary isn’t stopping Haines, who told WTOP that she will continue as a crossing guard indefinitely. “As long as I’m well, why not?” she said. Haines turns 92 in May.

“In a hectic day, she can bring sunshine to any angry motorist,” Cpl. James Brooks with the Falls Church Police Department told WTOP. “She’s probably just the sweetest person you can imagine.”

After her shift this morning, Haines was honored at the nearby St. James Catholic School by administrators, students, and local officials. School officials also hung a banner outside in her honor.

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