AARP celebrates 50th with star-studded event

Actress Sally Field had some advice for the mature crowd celebrating AARP's 50th anniversary on a sunny day at the Lincoln Memorial: Don't get burned.

"I'm worried about you all," she said. "I hope you put some sun block on!"

Field joined tennis star Martina Navratilova, astronaut Buzz Aldrin, NASCAR champion Richard Petty and Elder Bernice King - daughter of Martin Luther King Jr. - on Thursday to honor the advocacy group for people 50 years old and above.

Leeza Gibbons was the master of ceremonies and Patti Austin and Wynonna Judd sang.

The celebrities encouraged people over 50 to live their dreams, demand affordable health care, be each other's keeper and remember that age is just a number.

Navratilova, AARP's health and fitness ambassador, encouraged the crowd of about 5,000 to take baby steps toward better health and embrace their passions.

AARP has taken pains to show that celebrities age just like everyone else. Earlier this year, its magazine ran a cover with a shirtless Jamie Lee Curtis, the actress who turns 50 this year. She was shown with gray hair, wading in water up to her chest.

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AARP: http://www.aarp.org/