Changing its name, seeking new members

Newly renamed Center for Adult Life Enrichment reaches out to baby boomers

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In less than a year then Baldwin resident Natalie Imberman’s husband Stanley, then her son Michael, as both died 16 years ago.

Through her cousin Phyllis Krauss, Imberman, was introduced to the Five Towns Senior Center. “I came here not knowing a soul except my cousin, I was bewildered,” said Imperman, now a Lynbrook resident. “I learned to play canasta, wrote poetry and met a lot of wonderful people; it enriched my life.”

Now president of the Center’s Member’s Advisory Board, Imperman is helping Center Executive Director Georgiana Wolfson introduce the new name of what was called the Five Towns Senior Center for 64 years. The Members’ Advisory Board consists of 15 members that work on different committees. The general membership and the advisory board meet every other month.

The Center for Adult Life Enrichment is the new name. The Center remains located in the carriage house at 37 East Rockaway Road on the Hewlett High School campus of what was the Hewlett Homestead.

Though the Center, which had been housed in several different locations throughout its seven-decade existence, caters to seniors, Wolfson said there is a stigma attached to senior centers, but that necessarily doesn’t have to be the case.

“Centers are at the forefront of programs and are changing programs to meet the needs of a the boomer population,” said Wolfson, who added that the newly renamed center is seeking to “replenish its membership” and wants to reach out to the baby boomer generation that is now retiring.

Currently, the Center has more than 300 members — more women then men — and a majority of them are residents of the Hewlett-Woodmere School District, Wolfson said. To better serve its members, Wolfson said that some programs will now take place at the district’s Woodmere Education Center at 1 Johnson Place in Woodmere.

“We believe that a mind should be kept involved as we age in place,” said Wolfson, who added that the Center has partnered with Hewlett High School to hold several different intergenerational programs.

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