CLEVELAND, Ohio - Last year, at a picnic for volunteers of the Cleveland International Film Festival, more than 200 people joined together to sing in celebration of Lil Routman's 93rd birthday. There's a reason that Routman is a bit of a legend around the film fest crowd: As a volunteer, she's been taking tickets, tallying voter ballots and escorting guests to their seats for 39 years.

"That was a high point," Routman recalls of the birthday recognition. "I'm just so lucky."

The festival, now held annually at Tower City Cinemas, began as a small event at Cleveland Heights' Cedar Lee Theatre in 1977. As a longtime volunteer, Routman has seen firsthand how it's grown to more than 467 short and feature films and 106,000 attendees. And it takes more than 1,000 volunteers to make it all run.

"We have more people coming than ever before, and it's absolutely thrilling," Routman says.

A love of the arts was instilled in the Glenville High School graduate from an early age. Growing up, Routman and her grandfather dedicated their Saturdays to listening to two things: the opera and baseball games. ("We always cheered against the Yankees, of course!" she laughs.) She still loves opera, and as a Beachwood dweller, you'll often find her back at Cedar Lee Theatre, where she's catching up on their live opera performance series.

She's volunteered at Playhouse Square, Cleveland Playhouse and Severance Hall, but the film fest keeps drawing her back. Why? "The excitement," she says. That, and a dedicated crew.

"I'll tell you something about these volunteers," Routman says. "When you give them a job, they go for it. These volunteers are all anxious to help."

The person she has to thank for that is Special Programs Director Beth Steele Radisek, who oversees volunteers.

"One thing you've got to say is, Beth, she straightens out any problem you have and she appreciates the work that everybody does," Routman says. "She's fantastic. She has an incredible amount of patience."

Radisek counts Routman as one of her "favorite volunteer faces to see" for the two decades she's been involved with the festival.

"Her love and commitment to the festival has been unwavering," Radisek says.

Routman also knows she's at home among a dedicated team. One member she holds close to her heart is Thom Duke, who volunteered for more than 30 years before he passed away in 2014.

"He always had a smile on his face, and he was very knowledgeable," Routman fondly recalls. "Because he reviewed all the movies, we'd ask 'which ones should we see' and he'd point out all the best."

Seeing movies is, of course, a perk of being a volunteer. After our interview, Routman plans to see "Pick of the Litter," a runaway hit of the film fest about dogs that are training to become guides for the blind. (Routman is an animal lover and lives with her cat, Elvis.) The volunteers always fill each other in on all the best films they see.

"Everyone discusses the movies you saw, how you feel about them," Routman says. "As you go through the halls, everybody tells you 'see this one, see that one!'"

Routman's favorite movie? "It would have to be a romance," she says matter-of-factly. Topping her list is "Random Harvest," the 1942 film in which Ronald Colman, a World War I vet, falls in love with Greer Garson, a showgirl.

"I like movies where they meet, they have a fight, then they live happily ever after," Routman says. "I want them to end happy."

Routman also likes the little extras that go along with a film fest, such as the many special guests in town who appear for Q&As and to introduce screenings.

"It's nice when you get to hear the director or producer talk," Routman says. "It makes you feel closer. And they have some quirky ideas."

But beyond the arthouse flicks and star-studded appearances, the part of the fest that means the most to her is FilmSlam. Now in its 26th year, the youth program brings in local students for their own mini-film fest, where they learn to critique what they see on screen and have conversations about the social messages they perceive in movies.

It's no surprise that she would take interest in cultivating a love of film among young people. Just like her grandfather instilled an appreciation of the arts in Routman, she's doing her best to pass that along to her two children, seven grandchildren and all of her great-grandchildren. At one point, both her daughter and granddaughter were all volunteers at the fest at the same time. Her daughter, Sherri, is still active.

"When they have children coming here in the morning, it's nice to see them listening and being as quiet as a mouse because they're enjoying the plot," Routman says. "They're taking it in. It's wonderful. It's getting them accustomed to this, and learning how to enjoy this. And that's the next generation."