Wanted: More than a few good men at Groton Senior Center

Site tries to attract additional guys with new offerings

Groton — The Groton Senior Center is trying to attract more men, and has begun adding programs after receiving the results of a survey last winter.

About 75 percent of people who visit the Groton Senior Center are women, while 25 percent are men, a split typical of senior centers, Supervisor Mary Jo Riley said.

But Riley wanted to broaden the center’s reach. Last winter, she mailed a survey to about 100 men who are center members, and asked what programs they’d like. Their requests: Monthly talks on health topics, history programs, sports trips, fishing trips, and first aid and CPR training.

“It showed actually that for some (programs), they don’t read the newsletter, because we were already offering the programs,” Riley said. But where the center offered less than the men wanted, she took the advice to heart.

The center scheduled a “Men’s Health Week” the last week in August, with discussions about topics ranging from back pain to Alzheimer’s disease. It brought seniors to the Yankees-Red Sox game on Aug. 12 and is planning a fishing trip, visit to a local brewery and possibly a trip to a Boston Celtics game.

Staff are taking first aid and CPR this fall for recertification, and Riley plans to open it up to the center members. The center will also extend the hours of its fitness center from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m., Monday through Thursday, starting Sept. 1. The fitness center is open from 8 a.m. until 7 p.m. now, but Riley said men and women have asked for longer hours.

It took Robert Bruno, 68, of Mystic, awhile to get started using the senior center, he said.

“I stayed away even when I was retired. I just didn’t think they had anything for me,” he said. But his wife encouraged him to stop in and he found more than he expected. He visits five days a week to play pickleball, a cross between ping pong and tennis.

“Why should I go to a (fitness center) where I’m one of the oldest people when I could go and be one of the youngest people and also be with people my own age? It’s just more enjoyable,” he said.

Dennis Klein, 70, of Groton, visits for pickleball also, but heard recently about a yoga class he’ll look into.

He and Rich Pazera, 69, of Prospect, had a bit of added advice for attracting men to the center: Let them mingle with women when they visit.

“They’ll show up every day,” Pazera said.