Growing quite a reputation
Bob Johnston cultivates a larger plot than most gardeners: a half acre.
“I want to cut down the size of it every year, but don’t,” he said, laughing.
Gardening is his passion, and Johnston is reluctant to reduce the space where he grows vegetables and fruits – and lots of them – behind his North Strabane Township home. Judges at the annual Washington County Agricultural Fair appreciate his handiwork, and love the produce he produces – year after year after year.
Johnston did it again last month, leaving the fairgrounds in Chartiers Township after raking in 15 awards out of 19 entries, including Best of Show for his miniature sunflowers. By doing so, Johnston added to a ribbon collection that is every bit as incredible as the man himself.
Three-and-a-half months shy of his 100th birthday, Johnston has enough fabric from his red, white and blue fair ribbons to weave a patriotic vest for an NFL lineman. He has 234 cloth awards and counting, most of them his, but some won by his late wife, Dorothy, for her baked goods and crafts at past fairs.
There have been others. “I threw some out years ago,” he said, shrugging.
Raising healthful foods may be Johnston’s trademark, but that isn’t the only one. Though his hearing may be a bit balky, he is a healthy, able-bodied, sharp and jaunty man, with a quick smile, slick wit and slim physique. He looks fabulous for a centenarian.
“I keep busy, try to have a positive attitude,” Johnston said of his mantra for healthy living. “I have a lot to be thankful for … like good doctors.”
His willingness to serve his family and others has never abated, and his desire to collect extends beyond fair ribbons. Johnston has two classic cars in impeccable condition, including a 1963 Buick Wildcat with 130,000 miles. He also has a stuffed deer’s head and caribou and elk horns hanging in his family room, courtesy of his years as a hunter.
Then there are the endless rows of hammers in his basement, many of them used by blacksmiths.
“I have over 100 of them,” he said with a quick smile.
Linda Hildebrand is accustomed to her father’s trademarks and embraces them. “My dad is funny, easy to be around and easy to talk to. I just love to spend time with my dad,” said Hildebrand, who lives nearby and is a frequent visitor.
A lot has happened, good and bad, since Bob Johnston’s birth on Jan 2, 1918. He was one of three children of a Cecil Township farm couple, raised a mile from his current home, while Woodrow Wilson was president and World War I was still raging. In the interim, Johnston avoided the global flu epidemic of 1918; lost his father in the midst of the Depression; witnessed a second World War; bore two sons and a daughter; buried his oldest boy and his spouse of 57 years; and had a meaningful career.
“I worked at Continental Can for 45 years and eight months,” he said, declining to include any days and hours that may be on top of that. Johnston was a shipping supervisor at the company’s Canonsburg and West Mifflin facilities before retiring in 1981 – 36 years ago.
The man has endured 18 presidential administrations, from Wilson to Donald Trump; served briefly in the Navy; and watched Southpointe develop, just beyond his front window.
Johnston, who was 14 when his father died, became enamored with gardening as a child. He said he has been competing for county fair prizes for 45 years, and professes surprise over his success.
“I’m just lucky. I guess,” he said.
His daughter disagrees.
“Dad is a humble type of guy,” Hildebrand said. “Every year, he says he won’t get any ribbons, and he always does.”
A key to winning, Johnston said, is to select a smaller specimen of produce. “You don’t pick out the biggest. Medium size gets the ribbons.”
One of his specialties, however, is midget watermelons. This year’s entry was truly tiny – softball-sized, perhaps. Yet it took a first place.
Johnston remains close to his family, emotionally and geographically. His brother, Bill, also resides in the area, and Bob speaks frequently with son Roger, a retired engineer for Mack Trucks living in Greencastle in southcentral Pennsylvania,
“He recently took a gasoline engine built in 1914, that hadn’t run in 65 years, and got it running,” said the proud father, whose other son, Bob, died in a Pittsburgh motorcycle crash years ago.
Dealing with Dorothy’s decline was difficult. She experienced a stroke near the turn of the century, and Bob cared for her diligently for six years before she died. The 10th anniversary of Dorothy’s passing will be next month.
Bob now helps tend to his grandson, David, a 26-year-old with disabilities and Hildebrand’s son.
In the midst of this busy regimen, Johnston finds time to volunteer outside his clan. For years, he has repaired bicycles for his church’s “toy shop,” which provides free gifts for children. The irony is he did not have a bike while growing up.
“My mom said I’d be killed on the road,” said Bob Johnson, whose life is as full as it has been long.
“People say, ‘Have a nice day,'” he said. “I say, ‘Every day is a nice day when you’re 99.'”