Technically speaking, Kathleen Knecht and Peggy Fosso shouldn’t be members of Oak Harbor Senior Center. Fosso will celebrate her 17th birthday this Sunday, Feb. 29, while Knecht will experience her 14th birthday on the same day.

The two don’t know each other, but they share a rare bond. They are both among the estimated 200,000 Americans who were born on Feb. 29 or Leap Day. It may not seem that unusual, but only about .07 percent of the country’s 290 million citizens have this birthday.

“There aren’t that many of us around,” Fosso said.

In fact, she said some people aren’t even aware of Leap Year, which has caused her a little trouble over the years. “I’ve been told that Feb. 29 doesn’t exist,” she said. “I’ve been told that more than once.”

Feb. 29 only comes around in Leap Years, which occur just about every four years. The reason for the rule is to bring the calendar year in line with the length of Earth’s orbit around the sun. Years which are divisible by 100 but not 400 aren’t Leap Years. So 2000 was a Leap Year while 1900 was not.

Both Knecht and Fosso have received a lot of attention over the years because of their birthdays. Fosso was born in Seattle in 1936 and was featured in the newspaper as the first Leap Year baby of that year. Growing up, her birthdays were always especially memorable.

“My mom was a great birthday giver,” she said, “but I only got one every four years.”

Unfortunately, her 16th birthday dinner had to be canceled because her sister fell on a desk at school and cut her ear. While it was undoubtedly disappointing then, Fosso looks back at it with humor.

But Fosso said things have changed since becoming an adult. Since they are so unique, she said her birthday celebrations stretch over five or six days each year.

“I really love birthdays,” she said. “That’s why I don’t mind getting older.”

Knecht, on the other hand, never missed any birthday parties. She said her parents celebrated her birth on either Feb 28 or March 1 on off-years. Yet it was always extra special when Leap Day rolled around.

Knecht’s father was in the Air Force security services, so the family moved around a lot, including deployments in Europe. She was born in New York state, celebrated her fourth (or first, depending on how you look at it) birthday in Scarsdale, N.Y.; her eighth in Naples Italy, her 12th in Germany; and her 16th in Bedford, England.

“I got attention all my life for my birthday,” she said. She was even featured in German newspapers because of her special birthday.

Knecht said her 16th birthday was especially memorable. Beatlemania was at its height, so she invited all the kids from her school bus to her house to listen to records. The students were all pretty close because they had to travel 120 miles a day on the bus to go to a Department of Defense school.

“My mom fried five chickens for my friends,” she said. “That was my favorite food back then.”

This Sunday, Fosso said she and her husband will be going out of town to celebrate her birthday. Yet she plans to go to church with her son, an Anacortes resident. “For what it’s worth,” she said, “it’s very special to me.”

Knecht said family members from Seattle, Greenbank and Oak Harbor are all going out to dinner for her birthday.

“Friends and family, everyone has always been very interested in my birthday,” she said.

You can reach News-Times reporter Jessie Stensland at jstensland@whidbeynewstimes.com or call 675-6611.