After four years, it's 'Happy Birthday' again Mansavage will be driving after fourth birthday By GENE KEMMETER of The Gazette Jonathan Mansavage is getting ready to drive a car as his fourth birthday approaches. A sophomore at Stevens Point Area Senior High School, Jonathan was born Feb. 29, 1988, so his actual birthday comes only once every four years - this time on Sunday. His parents are Lisa Smetana and Jason Mansavage. "It feels different because it's every four years," he said. "I don't have a birthday every year." That doesn't mean his family doesn't celebrate his birth 16 years ago, he said, they do that annually on Feb. 28. "My friends, they think it's kind of funny," he said. "They tease me. Some think it's pretty cool." This year, he said he'll have a little get-together with his friends and celebrate with his family. "It's the one day I can do it." He said he didn't realize he had a Leap Year birthday when he was 4 or 8, but understood it when the last birthday came around. "When I turned 12, I realized it only came once every four years." World War II Veteran turns 21 By GEORGE ROGERS of the Gazette Bill Siebert will soon reach his 21st birthday and won't have to lie about his age in saloons. If you know Bill, and are aware that he's Stevens Point's retired controller-treasurer, you probably didn't realize he hasn't reached drinking age. Well, he has, but he was born Feb. 29, so he hasn't had a whole lot of birthdays. They come along only once every four years, and the next one will be Sunday. How old is he really? Well, you do the arithmetic. Multiply 21 by 4. Being born on Leap Day doesn't make you unique, but close to it. The extra day comes along just once very 1,461 days, so statistically speaking only about 17 of Stevens Point's 24,551 residents (2000 census) should be able to claim this distinction. Siebert was born and raised in Stevens Point and left with the local National Guard units when they were called to active duty in 1940, as America's entry into World War II approached. Most of the guardsmen went off to the Southwest Pacific and sweated in the jungles of New Guinea and other tropical hells, but he transferred out and didn't go with them. So he had it pretty soft, right? Wrong. He wound up in the combat engineers and was sent to Europe. He landed in Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944, served throughout the European campaign and ended up in Czechoslovakia "without a scratch" as the fighting ended. After the war, Siebert graduated from Notre Dame University and in 1964 was appointed Stevens Point controller by Mayor Ed Piotrowski, filling a vacancy in that elective office. Later, the position was joined with the treasurer's office, and as controller-treasurer he served until retiring in 1985. He and his wife Betty have two sons and two daughters, none of them born on Leap Day. One of his daughters is planning a birthday party for Bill. "If everything goes well we'll have a pretty good turnout," he said.