Retiree group’s first meeting drew 12, but 342 meetings later it has an e-mail list of more than 650.
By: Kara Fitzpatrick
One summer about 20 years ago, three men routinely gathered at the Community Park pool and discussed politics, chemistry, the arts and more. But when the fall came, the men wondered what they would do without their regular gatherings. And so 55PLUS was born.
55PLUS is a non-sectarian Princeton-based men’s organization that meets twice a month except during the summer at the Jewish Center of Princeton for lectures on a variety of subjects. In addition, the group hosts trips, organizes community service projects and has a number of subgroups relating to computers, community service, finance and more.
The group’s three founding members Harold Loew, Murray Reich and the late Bernie Gerb, who died two months ago started the group as an outlet for area men to socialize and intellectually stimulate themselves. "We wanted to do something that would interest men," Mr. Loew recalled.
While just 12 people attended the first 55PLUS meeting in February 1986, the group now boasts an e-mail list of more than 650 and has about 35 volunteers who keep the organization running. However, there are no members.
"Anyone can come," said group coordinator Mark Rutzky, a retired marketing manager of The Dow Chemical Co. Until 1994, the group was strictly comprised of men, but women have since been welcomed.
Typically, about 150 people attend each of the lectures, which are prefaced with coffee so those in attendance can socialize.
55PLUS "is a way to feel useful, productive and valuable," said Mr. Reich, a retired polymer chemist, gerontologist and business owner.
Since its inception, the group has held 343 meetings that have included lectures on topics from poetry to politics to history and beyond. "There is no subject that is off-limits," Mr. Rutzky said. "We get tremendous speakers."
Speakers have included Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Paul Muldoon, former Princeton Borough Mayor Barbara Sigmund, Princeton University President Shirley Tilghman, former Harvard University President Neil Rudenstine and numerous professors at Princeton and Rutgers universities. About 50 percent of the speakers are professors from those two New Jersey universities, Mr. Rutzky said.
In the beginning, finding speakers was not as easy as it is today, said Mr. Loew, a retired management consultant.
"We scrounged around," he recalled. "For a while, it was difficult to find people." But he said, "we don’t even have to ask people anymore." All speakers come on a voluntary basis and are not paid, Mr. Loew said.
Speakers are selected through a referral process. If someone involved with the group suggests a speaker, he must have heard the person speak and that person must be engaging and passionate about the subject matter, Mr. Loew said.
"Today, (55PLUS) serves a place in the community that is very, very helpful for all retirees," Mr. Rutzky said, adding that the organization was his link to the community when he moved here from Miami 10 years ago. "It opened up many, many doors," he said.
The organization is more than just a group of people coming together for a lecture the associated camaraderie is equally valuable, Mr. Reich said. 55PLUS has provided him with "an opportunity to develop close friendships with men," he said, adding that throughout the years, he has gained invaluable experiences from his involvement. "I call it adding texture to my life," he said.
Mr. Loew said the group has been going strong for two decades because its volunteers never lost sight of the objective "to provide intellectual stimuli to retired people," he said.
55PLUS, Mr. Reich said, "is an extremely fine asset to the community."
55PLUS will hold a special 20th-anniversary program on Thursday that will feature a lecture by Greg Olsen, the third private citizen to orbit the earth on the International Space Station. The program begins at 10 a.m. at the Jewish Center of Princeton, 435 Nassau St.