Lt. Governor Andre Bauer has launched a new program with the goal of determining the identity of the oldest living South Carolinian. The South Carolina Centenarian Society recognizes those 100 years of age and older.
Bauer says centenarians have seen notable advances in science, medicine and the rise of the communications revolution. “We’ve been told there are more than a thousand South Carolinians who are 100 or better,” said Bauer. “We’re doing the research right now, but the problem is that until July of 1915, South Carolina didn’t issue birth certificates. So we’ll have to go back through family bibles, military records and things of that nature to trace birth dates.”
Society members will be recognized on the Lt. Governor’s Office on Aging web page for their longevity and contributions to the State of South Carolina.
Email ltgov@scsenate.com, go to andrebauer.com, or call the Lt. Governor’s Office on Aging in Columbia.
Bauer says the Centenarian Society is important for several reasons: “We’re recognizing that seniors are living longer than ever before. South Carolina has some 770,000 seniors and 1.2 million baby boomers on the way, and it reinforces the fact that we’re going to have to plan for the future, as people live longer than ever before.”
