Jim Johnston has seen more changes in his lifetime than most folks will ever see, but he has had no trouble keeping up with the times.
Johnston, 94, was born in Aberdeen, Scotland in March 1917. He moved to Canada in 1921, settling in Winnipeg with his family.
Johnston, who is comfortable using a computer and keeping in touch with folks via email, recalls how he and his brothers would rig a little crystal set on top of a magnet before they had access to a batteryoperated radio.
"We'd get Foster Hewitt and the hockey games. Someone would touch it and the sound would be gone," he recalled. "Then the radio came in, and you'd just get into the middle of something and the battery would die."
Johnston lived in Winnipeg during the Great Depression. Back then, farm owners would sometimes pay people $2 a day for putting sheaves together and $3 a day for thrashing.
"I worked there during the Depression. Very tough times," he said. "You could buy a T-bone steak with all the trimmings for five cents."
Jobs were scarce, so Johnston made money doing odd jobs such as peddling food on the street and riding the rails to farms where jobs could sometimes be found.
"They had camps along the way. You could get some hot coffee. You rode up at top of the trains," he said "Everybody was looking for work."
Johnston eventually got a job at the Canada Packers meat plant in Winnipeg. In 1931 he joined the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders of Canada.
"I started playing the bagpipes there. I ended up doing that for about 64 years. I tortured a lot of people," he laughed. "I stopped on my 80th birthday."
In 1937, Johnston moved up to the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders' regiment and continued working at Canada Packers.
"In 1939, Sept. 2, war was declared," he said. "I joined up there with my dad the next day. He was also a member of the Cameron's at that time."
Johnston got shrapnel in the arm while serving in Antwerp, Belgium. He was shipped back to Britain, where he remained in hospital for nine months.
"My arm was the size of my leg," he said about his injury. "It was painful for a while."
Johnston eventually retuned to Winnipeg and resumed work at Canada Packers. It was there that he met his future wife Wanda, whom he married on Dec. 13, 1946.
"We decided in December of '47 we should come to B.C. We had had enough of the snow piles," he said. "We came to Vancouver. I got a job at Canada Packers here. In 1949, I got a job at the B.C. Pen."
Johnston was living in Vancouver when he started working at the B.C. Pen in New Westminster; he soon moved to the Royal City, where he and Wanda raised their four children.
Johnston worked at the B.C. Penitentiary for 28 years, retiring in 1977. His bagpipe experience came in handy for the May 1980 official closing ceremony of the B.C. Pen, where he led officials to the podium.
"I went to the front gate and played Amazing Grace," he said. "I went to the one tower and played the Lament."
After retiring, Johnston was president and vice-president of the Century House Association board of directors for many years. He was also one of the founders of the Legion Highland Gatherings, which were annual events attended by pipe bands from across B.C.
"I retired. We made a lot of trips. I was interested in the Highland Games," he said. "The Legion pipe bands were in great demand."
Johnston, who turned 94 in March, attributes his successful and long-lasting marriage to open communication. Wanda passed away in 2008.
"We had a very good relationship. We had a good 63 years," he said. "We just talked things over. We did everything together. That's the main thing. We took the kids wherever we went. We had five o'clock supper. We made rules - it was easy to accept. We never had any problems."
Johnston has close relationships with his children - Joyce, Sharon, Jim and Elaine - and gets daily calls and visits from his offspring.
He also has seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren (with another on the way).
Nowadays, Johnston still enjoys attending the races at Hastings Track, bowling at Lucky Strike Lanes and trying his luck at the casino.
"I do a lot in the garden, I do a lot in the house," he said. "I still drive. I bowl and I play the horses. I go in to the den of inequity. I am pretty lucky."
Johnston continues to live in New Westminster, though he admits it's changed al lot through the years.
"New Westminster was a very quiet place," he said. "We didn't have the same traffic we have now. There's been so much that's changed."
