As a kid, John Schoolman was always whistling. He says he constantly had a tune in his head. But when his wife died thirty years ago, the whistling just stopped. That was, until John picked up the wood burner.

“Then I started whistling again.”

John has made hundreds and hundreds of walking sticks over the years. They line just about ever spare inch in his Leesburg home. Some are personal. Others are politically motivated. Others, just pretty. He keeps the natural twists and turns of a branch and turns them into colorful canes with phrases and poems burned into their skins.

But Thursday, John put down the wood burner. He had other plans.

“Okay, everybody, he’s here!”

As John walks into the North Webster Community Center, family members and friends, some he hasn’t seen in decades, begin to sing ‘Happy Birthday.’

You see, on January 22 John turns 100-years-old! Or as he says, 100-years-young.

"You must keep moving,” John explains. “We dare not sit down and quit. I've had an enjoyable life. I have no complaints. I hope I can have a few more."

"He is a man who has gotten up every morning and done what was right and good...day in and day out faithfully," says Deborah Freeman, John’s granddaughters. "He is our piece of history in our family. He's the hub of the family."

They need a hub with a family this large! John as two children, six grandchildren, 18 great grandchildren, 23 great-great grandchildren and even two great-great-great grandchildren!

"There used to be a magazine that was called Country Gentleman. And he personifies that," says one of those grandchildren, Gary Miniaer.

"If we could all live to be 100 and be as good as what John is, social security would be in big trouble," jokes long time friend Sharon Sell.

Ask John his secret and he’ll tell you to stay active. He still drives and walks daily. Also, John actually reads about a book everyday.

Indiana University purchases $2,500 worth of John’s canes to display. From there, they’ll be part of a folk art exhibit in a Nashville museum. And then the canes will tour the state so places like schools can borrow them.

The kids who get to see them will surely be in for more of a lesson than they thought.