Bojangles Restaurant Celebrates 105-Year-Old Customer’s Birthday With A Surprise Party

Charlie Lentz has been visiting his local Winston-Salem Bojangles restaurant every Sunday after church for decades.

Charlie Lentz has been visiting his local Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Bojangles restaurant every Sunday after church for decades. But this weekly ritual turned out to be the ultimate surprise for the restaurant regular. “Charlie came to Bojangles after church that day expecting to uphold his typical Sunday afternoon tradition, but instead walked into a birthday celebration,” Horace Spencer, Bojangles’ regional manager, told Business Insider.

Fentz said he was caught off guard by the unforeseen celebration.

“This was a big surprise,” the restaurant regular told WXII-TV.

Fentz, who recently turned 105, was greeted by a crowd of party-goers who gathered to celebrate the milestone birthday. Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines joined family and friends as they sang the traditional and Stevie Wonder renditions of “Happy Birthday” to Fentz. Dressed in a suit and a bedazzled Bojangles velvet crown, the guest of honor sat on his throne as he was showered with gifts and well wishes. The attendees enjoyed cake, punch, and Fentz’s favorite Sunday meal, Bojangles chicken.

“He’s very consistent with his order. His go-to is the leg and thigh 2 piece. And a lot of times before he even gets in the door, the employees have it ready for him.” Spencer told WXII TV.

Fentz, a World War II veteran, walked to church every Sunday until he was 90 years old. The local celebrity says he enjoys going out into the community so he rides the bus three times a day. He also said he was very close to his mother.

“I guess you could say I was a mama’s boy,” he said in an interview with WXII TV.

When asked what he is thankful for, the 105-year-old said he is thankful for life.

“To be alive,” he told NBC News affiliate KYMA. “That’s what I’m thankful for, to be alive.”