Don't call it your grandmother's senior center

What's in a name? A lot, says Dana La Rue. In a country obsessed with youth and image, she hopes something as simple as a name change might be enough to get the youngest of Kirkland's older residents into her senior center.

At the suggestion of the city's Senior Action Committee, La Rue is holding a contest to rename the Kirkland Community Senior Center something that excludes perhaps its most operative word: senior.

"We run all sorts of programs appropriate for all ages. But people come in and say, 'This is a senior class, I can't take that,' " La Rue said. "I say, 'This is a building, and we have a program in here.' "

In Redmond, senior-center director Linda VanLöbenSels said her staff and members have brainstormed new names for months, including "Club 50," "The Better Center," "The L Club" (as in the Roman numeral for 50) and "The Second Half."

Senior-center leaders in Kent, Puyallup, Federal Way and Yakima are doing the same, said Kristy Dunn, chair of the Washington State Association of Senior Centers.

"It's a statewide thing, as well as a national trend," Dunn said.

Indeed, the quest for an empowering euphemism has spread from California to Connecticut, according to news reports.

As the wave of baby boomers turning 50 is cresting, marketing firms, social workers and others who work with seniors are pondering how to attract and meet the needs of an active generation that for the most part cringes when reminded that it's aging.

"There are a lot of negative connotations with the term 'senior citizens.' It conjures up images of people kind of decrepit, staring out the window," said Ken Budd, an editor with AARP magazine. "It's hard to picture the generation who grew up listening to the Stones willing to call themselves senior citizens."

After all, Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger is still rocking at age 62.

AARP, formerly the American Association of Retired Persons, shies away from terms like "senior citizen" in favor of "older American," "older adults" and "50-plus," Budd said.

One of Cathy VonWald's first acts when she took over Bellevue's senior center in 1998 was to change its name to North Bellevue Community Center. She welcomed anyone older than 18, to encourage the perception that the center is a place for adults with similar interests, rather than a place for adults who might share little else than an age range.

VonWald extended the center's hours to 10 p.m. so working adults could join. She added yoga, salsa dancing, martial arts and group trips to see the Rolling Stones to the mix of standards like billiards, pickleball, cards and crafts.

The result? Use of the center has grown from around 150 people per day to around 200 to 250 a day.

"My belief is if we offer a wide range of activities and extended learning and recreation activities, more people will come, and people will continue to come as long as they age," VonWald said.

James Pan is one of the newcomers. He joined the center's energetic afternoon pickleball games about three months ago. He thinks many regulars would welcome younger members so long as older seniors, many of whom are on fixed incomes, don't lose their discounts and other privileges, or get muscled out of activities they enjoy by younger members.

"I think the concept of senior is still 70s or 80s," said Pan, 66. "If you say 'community center,' then 40s and 50s will come."

Bellevue is on the right track by redefining how a community serves its members and focusing on interests and abilities rather than age, said Chris Bearg of the Seattle marketing firm Egg. Older Americans, after all, are healthier than they've ever been, are expected to outlive past generations, and in many cases will work long into their later years.

"The whole definition of what it means to be older, I think, has really changed," Bearg said. "Is there some rule that says you have to get a rocker?"

On the contrary, one Minnesota senior center lowered its age requirement to placate 50-year-olds clamoring to join a popular motorcycle club and the Red Hat Society, a women's social group dedicated to having fun after 50.

Meanwhile, the quest for a euphemism that packs both dignity and cleverness remains elusive.

"There's not really a positive term that's caught on yet, but I think it's a matter of time," said AARP's Budd. "Most people who are older don't think of themselves as 'senior citizens.' They think of themselves as older and vibrant."

In Kirkland, most suggestions thus far have clung to geography: Downtown Kirkland Community Center, Peter Kirk Community Center, The Life Center of Kirkland. La Rue has extended the deadline from Halloween to New Year's Eve, hoping someone will be struck with inspiration.

Karen Gaudette: 206-515-5618 or kgaudette@seattletimes.com