BY MATT MACKINDER
Clarkston News Staff Writer

Charlie Formaro will celebrate his third birthday this year by having classmates over from his sixth grade class at Sashabaw Middle School.
He’s not an advanced pre-schooler – he was born on Feb. 29, 2008, so his birthday is technically every four years, on Leap Years.
“People talk about my birthday a lot,” said Formaro. “It’s okay, but it is funny and annoying that I have two ages. When I turned 4 (his first Leap Year birthday), I would get very mad when people said ‘you are 1’ because I thought I was so grown up by turning 4.”
Charlie’s mother, Kristen Formaro, said her son will have a “big celebration” on Feb. 29 this year.
“The nurse at the hospital told us that if a baby is born on Leap Year day before noon you celebrate it on the 28th, and after noon, you celebrate on March 1,” she said.
Charlie, who was born at 10:32 a.m., said his birthday parties have always been a blast, and this year will be no different.

“We have celebrated my birthday by going to play paintball with my friends and this year, I am going to a hockey game and having a few friends spend the night,” Formaro said. “My parents let me have a bigger party every Leap Year. On the years it is not Leap Year, I do something small.”
Clarkston resident Don Hefner was born Feb. 29, 1932. He turns 88 this week, with 22 Leap Year birthdays.
On The Clarkston News’ Facebook page, Jason Nolan commented on Leap Year birthdays thusly, “My 32-year-old cousin was born on Leap Day. He used a loophole to claim he was technically only 8 years old so he could play on the boys 8-10 youth football league last fall. Smashed all the league records. He was unstoppable.”