Senior centers look to offer more for baby boomers

As baby boomers start turning 60 on Jan. 1, they will become eligible to use their local senior centers.

But the leaders of these centers here and nationally worry this new generation of seniors will stay away because of the stereotypes, so they’re starting to think of ways to cater to their needs.

The first local strategy under this new approach is a lunchtime sandwich and salad bar that will soon be offered at the Kingston, Wilkes-Barre, Pittston, Tunkhannock and Nanticoke centers.

Hot meals will still be served, but the sandwich/salad combo may attract some new people, including those still working, who don’t want something so hearty, said Pittston Senior Center Director Connie Andrews.

The new menu offering will be introduced at 1 p.m. July 26 at the Pittston Senior Center to people over 60. A $1 donation will be requested.

“I know myself as a baby boomer, I’m looking for something lighter for lunch,” Andrews said.

The center bustled with activity Wednesday, from a rowdy men-versus-women shuffleboard match to a ceramics class. There are also regular health clinics, bingo games, dance classes and card games.

While these activities may not appeal to boomers – at least not yet – the trick is getting them into centers to see that people are moving and interacting, Andrews and others say.

“People think they’re going to walk into a senior center and see hospital beds lining the walls, and nothing can be further from the truth,” said Linda Kohut, senior center services director for the local Area Agency on Aging.

Some members of 19 senior centers in Luzerne and Wyoming counties belong to a downhill skiing club, Kohut said.

Senior centers are designed to be a gateway into the aging program, keeping people happier and healthier so they will be less likely to need nursing homes and other domicile care, Kohut said.

She envisions new programs that will appeal to boomers’ interest in travel, health and learning. Centers may be open more at nights to cater to workers who are age 60 and older.

In addition to the sandwich/salad program, senior centers are starting a new nutrition-based weight reduction program that will be available to those 55 and older.

Some centers in other parts of the state and country have changed their names – a possibility that came up here but was never pursued. A senior center in New Mexico, for example, was renamed a “multigenerational center.”

Andrews wants to look into programs that provide support and reprieve for the growing number of grandparents and great-grandparents – not just boomers – who care for children. She also wants the younger 60-plus set to start offering expertise to their elders.

For example, Shirley Christian, who is turning 60 this year, majored in music and has volunteered to organize a variety show at the Pittston Senior Center.

Christian does not believe senior centers will become obsolete because they “keep people moving.” She started volunteering after the sudden loss of her husband.