Allan Jones could be a poster boy for living clean and having a positive attitude. Jones just turned 101 and lists an aversion to traditional ‘vices’ as a possible reason for his longevity.

Perhaps the health unit should put him on its payroll as a spokesman for its health-promotion programs, including anti-smoking initiatives.

Jones, a resident of the Hillcrest Village Care Centre in Midland, said he has never smoked a cigarette, he drank sparingly, and never to the point of being drunk. And he has never been to jail... just in case you were wondering.

Whatever the reason for his long life, take a moment to wish the county man a happy birthday. We’re not a society that celebrates age well, preferring instead to chase that elusive fountain of youth. But we should celebrate it. Getting old is part of what we are, and those who are old can help us understand the present by explaining the past.

As we age we become living links to bygone eras. We tend to have a short collective memory. The world wars of the last century seem distant when viewed through the lens of history: grainy images and scratchy recordings. But talk to someone who lived through those times and the past seems a lot closer.

Consider the changes a man of Jones’ age has seen. As a young man he witnessed the development of air and automobile travel. He experienced the introduction of radio and television, and the evolution of motion pictures as an art form.

He was a child during the years of the First World War. He was in his 30s when the Second World War ended.

The 20th Century was a time of rapid change like no other in human history. Jones was alive when communism took hold in Russia. He was witness to the collapse of the Soviet Union more than 70 years later.

Think of the cultural changes Jones has seen, from the growth of jazz and later rock and roll, to the civil rights movement - including the assassinations of the Kennedy brothers and Martin Luther King.

He was around when the telephone was in its infancy, and when a man first set foot on the moon. He has seen the introduction of cell phones, computers and other communication devices that have turned the globe into a village.

Jones has lived through change, the pace of which will likely never be seen again. We can learn a lot from people like him, who live in communities across the county, who have been witnesses to history.

Young people, in particular, could benefit from their experiences. They’d learn a lot more talking to them than viewing much of the trash that passes for entertainment these days. Age is more than a number. It’s a reservoir of knowledge that should be shared.