Over 800 people attended Thomas B. Hagen's 90th Birthday Bash at the Hagen History Center.  This year's annual museum gala was replaced by the birthday bash to honor the namesake of the history center complex, who is also the Chairman of the Board for Erie Insurance Group, the city's largest employer.

The guest list was a who's who of community leaders, and those who support the museum and Erie in many ways.

They were all there to honor the charitable spirit and ongoing work of Tom Hagen, particularly in restoring and preserving dozens of historic homes and buildings downtown, and establishing a preservation trust at the Erie Community Foundation to continue to protect those assets.

Hagen is proud of the work that he and his team have been able to complete over the last few years. "As a kid I lived on this street for a while and I know the neighborhood. And it just pains me to see some of these grand houses go into disrepair. And so I'm able to do it and we're having a great time doing it." 

And he was moved by the size of the crowd that turned out to celebrate with him. "Well it's overwhelming quite frankly, I'm not a big birthday party person... through my life but this is unbelievable and I'm very, very grateful," Hagen said.

The event was a major fundraiser for the history center according to CEO Cal Pifer. Pifer, center board president Kristen Talarico and Erie Insurance President and CEO Tim Necastro toasted Hagen, with Necastro leading the toast in Italian, wishing Hagen "Cent'anni," meaning may you live 100 years.

The party featured special bubbly from Mazza Winery, food from Red Letter Hospitality and two live bands, but nothing topped the historic cake featuring the Flagship Niagara and the Bicentennial Tower.  Hagen was asked to cut the cake with his naval cutlass.