Club connects over 50s for a bit of fun

Pinochle, the Philly Pops, and the Electric Slide.

Any or all of the above will get "Fantastic 50s Plus" members out of the house and into the swing of things.

Unless they're busy with other club activities, such as karaoke. Or kayaking.

"We have photography, bird-watching, canasta. . . . We go out dancing and on day trips," says Tom Cusack, 75, ringleader of the merry band of single and senior adults.

"We go on four or five overnight trips a year," he adds. "We went to Ireland."

I caught up with some of "the Fifties," as they call themselves, last week at A Touch of Class by Candlelite, the Delran event space where they celebrated their club's 16th anniversary with a dinner-dance.

Most of the 160 members live in South Jersey, where the organization was founded. They're retired or semiretired professionals, for the most part, and the women outnumber the men by 3-1.

"Guys are home with their remotes," Cusack, a retired IT professional, says.

From its beginning as the Fantastic 50s ("Plus" was added later), the club was neither a dating service nor a support group.

Instead, it was meant to connect divorced, widowed, or longtime singles over age 50 with peers who shared similar hobbies and interests.

Rather like Meetup.com before that service came into online existence.

"All these years later, we're still cooking," says Cusack, as the Touch of Class banquet room fills up with well-dressed men and women in their 60s and beyond.

Professional DJ Bruce W. Wolfrom, 68, of Mickleton, keeps the Frank Sinatra and Johnny Mathis coming in the early part of the evening; later on, Chubby Checker, Elvis, and a certain line-dance anthem will fill up the floor.

"I'm not a bar person," says Pat Guida of Glendora. "I'm a card person. I play rummy, and I play Follow the Queen, and there are lots of people who play these games here."

Members play in community centers and private homes throughout South Jersey; dance parties are held regularly at the Links Clubhouse at Kings Grant in Marlton and other local venues.

Mount Laurel resident Betty Gentile says that unlike single-focus clubs, "we have enough selections so everyone can find something."

Or, perhaps, someone.

"Tom [Cusack] and I, we're social butterflies. And we love to dance," says Harriet Shikes, who gives "over 50" as her age.

A Blackwood resident and a retired sales representative, she joined in 2000, after a divorce.

"The club gave me something to look forward to," she recalls.

The club also provides members "an opportunity to do something different," says Dennis DiMarco, who helped found it.

DiMarco, 69, of Turnersville, leads the club's bird-watching group. That pastime alone "has added a very nice dimension to my life," he says.

And after another volunteer stepped down five years ago, Gentile took over the Philly Pops subscription series. "I wasn't about to let that go," she says.

About 50 members typically attend the five concerts, as well as separate holiday performances. The chance to be part of a group - many members Speedline to Center City together - sometimes persuades shy or reluctant newcomers to come along.

"This club has meant so much to so many people," says past president Carolyn Savarese, 72, of Mansfield Township. "It continues to fill a need - even if not many members are 50 anymore."

From a peak of 400 about a decade ago, total membership has fallen by more than half. People move, lose interest, become ill, pass away.

"This club is a good thing," says Cusack. "We need new members, a younger crew, people in their 50s and early 60s. We'd like to pass this along to them."

Worries about the future take a backseat at the anniversary dinner-dance, however.

When the DJ punches up Chubby Checker, the crowd is thrilled to remember when and Twist again.

kriordan@phillynews.com

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