You've heard of Generation Xers, Baby Boomers, and you're probably familiar with the term septuagenarians - those seniors in their 70s - and maybe, octogenarians, those 80-something folks. But we're checking in with three nonagenarians who reveal why it's nifty to be 90-something. Although their reasons differ, this trio is united in their love of life and people. And, they agree that Coronado, with its pleasant climate and friendly community, is the perfect place to sow their wild oats...or just eat their Quaker oats.

Jack Be Nimble

He was a fighter pilot - one of those members of the Greatest Generation we hear so much about - who saw serious action in the South Pacific. And Jack Chilton remembers the fighting as if it was yesterday.

"I was assigned to Fighter Squadron One and we got into serious combat in the Gilbert Islands. We were the air cover for the Tarawa invasion. After three months, we were assigned to the Yorktown CV-10 and went out on the Mariannes campaign, and the Bonins Island where Iwo Jima is. We came in with 500-pound bombs and bombed any targets we could see. Sometimes we'd be up there for over three hours; I was in two fights where I totally ran out of ammunition."

Chilton completed service shortly after World War II, although he stayed active in the reserves for a period of time. He was called back to service during the Korean War, ending up with "one of the most delightful jobs I ever had with Douglas Aircraft in Santa Monica." He flew "acceptance flights" for the Navy and Air Force of the equivalent of DC-6 commercial planes - "R6D1's for the Navy and C-118-A's for the Air Force."

After the end of the Korean War, Chilton traded in his wings for shore-based civil service work as an engineer at Naval Air Station North Island, putting his degree in electrical engineering from Mississippi State University to good use. When his company relocated to Patuxent River, Maryland in 1977, Chilton retired. He and his wife Peggy wanted to stay put in Coronado.

Harrison Randolph "Jack" Chilton is a native of Starkville, Mississippi, home to his alma mater, where his grandfather, also Harrison by name, served as head of the English department and was vice president of the university.

"He was an interesting guy who once caused a strike by the whole student body," Chilton recalls with amusement. "In those days it was a boy's college and boys were not supposed to be found with girls in the stacks of the library. Well, a young man and a young woman were found there together, not 'doing' anything, mind you, just being in the same place at the same time and grandpa expelled the boy. Big mistake! These were popular kids around campus, so the whole college went on strike. He finally had to readmit the boy."

Chilton's mother graduated from the university, "but they made a special case for her to attend because of her father. But - he laughs uproariously - she wasn't allowed to take animal husbandry.

"Of course, today the entire school is co-ed."

Jack's mother and Peggy's mother introduced the couple back in 1941, and with the war on, "things moved pretty fast," Chilton said. "We became engaged after three dates."

Today the couple, now married 62 years, enjoy the comforts of Coronado living in their 1924 house that Jack refurbished in the '60s.

Chilton, 90, says getting older hasn't slowed him down. Retired now for 28 years, he says retirement "gave me more time to do the things I enjoy."

Today he fills his days with numerous activities and social events.

If it's Tuesday evening, you can catch up with Chilton at band practice with the Coronado Community Band where he plays guitar. The band plays at local events - Concerts in the Park, at the Ferry Landing, at weddings, at the Coronado Cays Yacht Club and the like.

On Thursday mornings, you'll find him at the Coronado Yacht Club where he attends the morning Optimist Club meetings. He's a past president of the organization and still helps out with the club's annual Sports Fiesta and with photography.

And four more days of the week, you'll find Chilton out on the tennis courts by the library.

He's been playing regularly since 1970.

"I played singles for a long time and I play doubles tennis now," he says. "I need a partner who's agile and quick on his feet." He found that partner in Rick Atkins. "He's 70ish, and was a member of the Coronado High School tennis team a few decades back."

But Chilton is pretty spry himself. He still drives when he needs to go over the bridge, but prefers to get around town on his red racing bike, "not that I use it for that," he's quick to point out. But he likes to cruise around at a leisurely pace and having lived in one place so long, "it's nice to be able to say hello to somebody in every block."

Myrtle's No Turtle

Today's the day the new kitchen cabinets are being installed at the Lyle home. Myrtle Folsom Lyle, who turned 90 last October, and her husband of three years, Dr.Bill Lyle, are deep into the renovation of their J Avenue abode.

Husband of three years? Yes, that's right. At the tender age of 87, Myrtle Folsom was swept off her feet by a handsome young-at-heart doctor whom she met at a dinner party; he insisted he, not the host, drive her home that evening.

The couple was married in "The Manse" - the Mansion home at Graham Memorial Presbyterian Church by Pastor David McElrath. "It was a lovely ceremony with just family, 35 of us. Bill has a big family, too, and we had reception dinner at Il Fornaio," says Myrtle.

"When I told my lady friends we were getting married, a lot of them said, 'Well, I guess there's hope for me.' "

A baby-grand piano sits among antiques and family pictures, but Myrtle says with all the renovations underway, she hasn't had much time to play lately. The Lyles are adding extra storage space after selling Bill's Yuma home and consolidating their possessions. "There just wasn't enough space for all the things we've collected over the years," Myrtle confesses. And, oh yes, these nonagenarians simply had to add on a new computer room. Got to keep up with the times!

Myrtle Folsom had moved to Coronado in 1986. As a widow and retired schoolteacher, she was looking for a place to settle down and call home. She had looked at Florida as an option but when she found Coronado she decided to stay forever.

"I love to go for walks here - every day is the perfect day for a walk," she says. And on those walks she reminisces over a very full and rich life.

In 1931, Folsom graduated as valedictorian of Closter High School in New Jersey. She went on to get her master's degree in teaching at Teachers College of Columbia University in New York City.

But she recalls that she was ready to say goodbye to teaching and hello to the friendly skies when she discovered a love of flying during her college years. "I wanted to visit a friend in Maine and heard you could fly on a bi-plane from New York to Boston, so I did it. Oh, I still remember seeing all the lights of New York City from the air. What a thrill.

"I really wanted to be a stewardess - that's what we called flight attendants back in 1934," she said. "But you had to have a nursing background. Seems kind of silly today, but it was an absolute must back then. And I was just shy of the height requirement."

So teach she did, to a combo of kindergarteners and first graders in a four-room country schoolhouse in Hohokus,New Jersey. She recalls making a whopping $1,150 - a year - as a teacher. "And then along came the war and our salaries were frozen," she remembers ruefully. "And after the war I got married to Morris and when we had five children, I put my teaching career on the shelf for several years. So I missed the big salary boom. Ha!"

Today, all those Folsom children, sans one, are educators. "My son Ralph teaches international law at the University of San Diego," she beams.

But that love of flying stayed with the teacher and mother, and translated into a love for travel. Folsom Lyle has been to the far reaches of the world including Morocco, Russia, China, Europe, Guatemala, Norway and the South Seas, among several ports of call. "The photo safari in a pop-top van through Kenya back in 1981 was the most memorable," she recalls. "There were hordes of zebras, hordes of antelopes, hordes of everything. To be so close to lions in their native habitat was just incredible."

As of late she has been trading her love of the skies for the seas.

"Now that we're older, we enjoy cruising," she says. "My oldest son has a canal boat in the south of France that we enjoy very much.

"We're doing a Mexican cruise in February out of San Diego. I like the fact that you unpack once and the normal things you do at home like cooking your meals and making your bed are all done for you. Each port is exciting and you can take it in at your own pace. There are always terrific speakers and entertainment on board ship. And, of course, there's the food, which everyone knows is great."

This petite woman offers up her own secret recipe for a long and happy life: "If the good Lord blesses you with good health, be active - physically, socially and mentally."

Vivacious Vivian

Ninety-two-year-old Vivian Alvic is looking forward to racking up another birthday in April. Her once vibrant strawberry blonde hair has faded to a light blonde. Though she has never colored it, there is not a gray strand in sight.

Alvic says she has always been very active in the outdoors and went on long alpine hikes in Switzerland, Austria, Vermont and Maine well into her 80s. Recently when a knee began "acting up a bit," she began hiking, well, strolling actually, around Coronado.

"The doctor says to be careful and stay off that knee," Alvic concedes. "But, 'if it's not broke, don't fix it' he told me. At my age, surgery seems pretty silly. So I stay close to home and enjoy my time at the Senior Center.

"I'm surprised more people don't take advantage of the Center, it's a wonderful place," she said, but she admits it took quite a bit of coaxing by her daughter Dale Reza, to get her there.

Upon moving to Coronado in the late '80s, Alvic worked for several years at her daughter's popular swimwear store, Dale's. "I found that most of my friends were Dale's friends, a generation younger than myself.

"Dale thought it would be a great idea for me to get involved with the Center. 'You need to meet people your own age,' she told me.

Alvic goes to all the luncheons but likes the breakfasts at the Center even better. "It's not so much what they serve, it's just the sociability. The conversation is always good early in the morning; we sit at tables of four, which is great for conversations. Luncheons are fun, too, but there we sit at longer tables and you end up talking with just the people next to you."

Alvic grew up in Nelson, Nebraska, where her father was a merchant. Upon her high school graduation, her parents sent her to Chicago with a round-trip train ticket. "I met Philip (her future husband) at the 1932 World's Fair in Chicago, and I never used that return ticket. Philip had moved to America from Austria-Hungary (now Croatia) at age four and lived in an ethnic neighborhood."

husband had been members of the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations, and frequently entertained foreign visitors.

"We often had people over for dinner," said Alvic, "especially around the holidays. We gave them a piece of America and they gave us a window into their cultures. We remained long-distance friends with many of them."

Alvic lost her husband in 1970, rather suddenly, after a diagnosis of brain cancer.

Today Alvic enjoys the convenience of modern technology, where her Web TV makes it possible to stay in touch with her ever-growing family. "My son Dr. Donald Alvic with the University of Tennessee works on computers all the time and told me I'd like Web TV. It works just like a computer but the screen is my big TV. I can play games on it, use it for email and order books from Amazon.

In addition to her daughter Dale and son Donald, Alvic has another married daughter, an accomplished writer who writes under her maiden name, Phyllis Alvic. And she has nine grandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren, "and two more on the way."

Keeping track of all of them keeps Alvic on her toes.

"You know what? Phyllis was at a meeting of the International Executives Service Corps in Africa. And Dale's daughter, who had just graduated from Columbia, was also in Africa," Alvic said. "So I had one daughter in Kenya and a granddaughter in Tanzania at the same time. Can you imagine that?"

Alvic says she stays "awfully busy keeping up with birthdays, graduations, marriages, births and so on."

And her family loves her back: "For my 90th birthday we had a party at the Senior Center and relatives came from all over."

Alvic still visits Chicago twice a year, visiting relatives and staying with good friends from her old neighborhood, which has regular get-togethers. "I always look forward to it," she says. "I'll stay for two weeks or a month at a time."

She says she suspects people stay young if they stay young at heart.

"I'm a free thinker," says Alvic. "You gotta' roll with the punches in life."