HAMDEN, Conn. (CNS) -- Mike Mele, a dapper, diminutive and downright engaging centenarian who works out three times a week at a local health club and just gave up riding his horse, Coco, celebrated his 100th birthday Dec. 16.

"I can't believe it myself," he said in an interview with The Catholic Transcript, Hartford archdiocesan newspaper, at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Hamden, where he serves as a lector, catechist for fourth-graders, altar server and extraordinary minister of holy Communion. He also has been the parish's choir director and, years ago, directed parish variety shows.

"You've got to keep active mentally and physically," said Mele. As is typical for him, Mele (whose name is pronounced "MEE-lee") is wearing a suit and tie, with gold cuff links protruding from his sleeves. "I'm interested in a lot of things," he added.

The New Haven native was working at Sargent Manufacturing Co. when he met the woman who was to become his wife of 38 years, Carmel.

Complimented by various people on his great singing voice, he quit his job to pursue a career in the theater, struggling for five years to break into the business.

An introduction by his manager to the financial manager for actor Jimmy Durante got him an audition with 20th Century Fox to play in "Down Argentine Way" with Betty Grable.

But by this time, he was married with an 11-month-old son, and didn't like some of the behind-the-scenes maneuvers of Broadway. So he gave up show business and shortly enlisted in the Army's 102nd Regiment, singing with a band.

After his Army stint, he worked as a dental technician before joining Olin as a research technician, working with chemicals for fireproofing before he retired at age 65.

After his wife died in 1980, Mele, who still drives a sporty, candy-apple-red Ford Probe, took up horseback riding at the urging of one of his sons. He rode, sometimes as often as three times a week, in Prospect until mid-October, when he gave it up. "I wanted to quit while I was ahead," he said.

Mele also enjoys creating models. "I love to make things," he said. "If I had to do it all over again, I'd be a schoolteacher -- I love the kids -- study piano, and work for Walt Disney making models for their villages."

The proof is in the models in his home -- horses, boats, airplanes, a 96-piece circus wagon with a lion inside and a horse-drawn carriage.

Also in his home is a shrine to Our Lady of Lourdes that he made, complete with a triple waterfall that flows down about 8 or 9 feet. He also made an ornate table that sits on the altar in church.

"Mike lives what he teaches," said Mercy Sister Ann O'Neill, director of religious education for the parish, where she has known Mele for 16 of the 53 years that he has been a parishioner. "He's an inspiration to everyone. And the way he makes the replicas in his house, he's just amazing."

Mele comes from an Italian family of eight siblings, six of whom died at the ages of 94, 101, 99, 89, 96 and 87.

As far as his own health regimen, he said he eats "whatever I want," works out and sees his doctor twice a year. "And I have a little whiskey sour every day. I heard that whiskey is good for your heart," he added with a wink.

He also enjoys a glass of red wine. "Jesus would not have turned water into wine if it wasn't good for you," he quipped.

His sons hosted a dinner for 300 people at Fantasia, a banquet facility in North Haven, to celebrate his birthday.

"I have two of the most wonderful sons you could imagine," said Mele of Michael, 65, a retired executive in North Haven, and Robert, 60, of New Haven, a local architect and interior designer.

"He has an exuberance for life that is contagious," said Michael Mele, who is amazed by his father's energy, longevity and the fact that he takes no medications. "And it all starts with his faith."