Ridgewood Forum to Focus on Seniors in Suburbia

The senior population, in New Jersey and around the country, is growing bigger as the “baby boomer” generation ages. And as that population's working life comes to a close, some face the question of what to do with their retired lives.

“Seniors in Suburbia: Setting New Goals,” a symposium on Thursday cosponsored by the village's community center and Bergen County Community College, will strive to answer that question.

“When this group turns into senior citizens it’s going to be the largest demographic in America,” said Councilwoman Gwenn Hauck, the council’s liaison to the community center. “It’s happening now, and we need to think about it.”

Seniors now comprise roughly 13 percent of Ridgewood's population, Hauck said. According to Ilene Kleinman, a professor at BCC and director of the college's Institute for Learning in Retirement, the 65-plus age group will represent 25 percent of the New Jersey population by 2020.

Thursday will be the third annual forum, but the first to be held in Ridgewood. Kleinman said that the program began when she and colleague Phil Dolce, the chairman of BCC's suburban studies department, noticed that seniors in the school's adult learning program were often at a loss for how to spend their retirements.

“The retired people we interact with often speak of themselves in the past tense,” she said. They thought, “We have to do something positive, encouraging, and point out what seniors do in their retired lives.”

Kleinman will be moderating a panel discussion featuring Sheila Brogan, the elder care coordinator for Children’s Aid and Family Services; Rev. James Knol, a pastor at Christian Health Care Center; Robert Norelli of Hobbyists Unlimited; and Janet Sharma, executive director of the Volunteer Center of Bergen County.

“I think the goal is to show, to some extent, that it’s a misunderstanding, a misinterpretation to show seniors as a group that sits around and doesn’t do very much,” Kleinman said. “We want to highlight all that seniors do in the community.”

The panelists, Hauck said, will share ways residents can contribute to the community and highlight the programs available to the 65 and older population. Attendants of the forum will have the opportunity to participate through poll questions posed throughout the symposium.

Organizers are expecting more than 200 people from Ridgewood and surrounding communities to attend the event, which Hauck said she hopes will raise awareness of the activities the village already has as well as promote the need for additional programming.

“I’m hoping, with all this talk and all this experience, that people will see how many [seniors] there are and how happy more activities will make them,” she said.

The free forum will run from noon to 2:30 p.m. Thursday in the Ridgewood High School Campus Center. The school will be closed for the teachers convention, so parking won’t be an issue, but those planning to attend are encouraged to register by calling 201-447-7756 or emailing ilr@bergen.edu.