PRESTONPANS resident Jozef Czech turned 100 last Tuesday and celebrated it in the same way he has marked almost every day for the past decade. . . with lunch at a local pub.
For almost every day for the last 10 years, Jozef has gone to the town’s Prestoungrange Gothenburg for his lunch.
And true to style, instead of having any of his favourite Polish treats to celebrate the milestone, he opted for his usual ham salad.
His small party was attended by his usual lunch companions, wife Selina, 91, and daughter Alex, as well as neighbours John and Margaret.
Michelle Wilson, Gothenburg manager, said: “He has been coming in every day. They live five minutes away. 
“He pretty much has the same thing all the time – the soup or a salad. We got balloons and cake for him”
Jozef’s daughter Alex told the Courier: “We’ve been going in since it opened up, so for about 10 years now. 
“We live nearby. There used to be a cafe on the High Street we used but that shut down. 
“My mum said we could go down to Musselburgh as well, but with them being elderly I thought it’s better to not go far, and it’s always good to support your local.”
Jozef met his wife Selina, who is from Ireland, in Birmingham, after he was demobbed from the Polish Army.
“I was stood outside a pub, waiting on my friend coming out, and she said, ‘There’s a few Poles in there’ and two men walked out,” Selina recalled. 
“I then turned to her and said, ‘You take the big one, I’ll take the little one’ and it worked out pretty well!”
Jozef and Selina married two years later, in 1949, and Jozef began working as a tool-grinder. They moved to Prestonpans in 1984 after visiting Selina’s cousin who had married a man from the area.
“Our family say she married a Panner and I married a Pole,” she added.
“When I told my friends I was moving they said, ‘Why are you going to Scotland – they’re all mean?’ I disagreed. You’re not mean – you’re canny.”
Jozef has missed the occasional lunch day – the Goth is shut on Mondays and closed at Christmas and New Year.
“We usually get a Christmas dinner and at New Year I just make something at home,” Alex said.
The Goth has changed hands in recent years but that hasn’t stopped the Czech family tradition.
“Menus change and people change but we are still happy to go,” added Alex. “They like the people and the menu is varied.”
Jozef normally orders from the £4.99 pensioners’ menu and always accompanies his meal with a cup of tea. 
However, Alex was prepared to divulge a little secret.
She added: “Occasionally, at weekends, he will treat himself to the specials!”