"I guess we probably looked because we thought we should. At a certain point in life, you should see what's out there," says Jack Campbell, who just celebrated his 60th birthday.

In the end, they decided to stick around because they have friends in the area and a close relationship with several neighbors. "We decided we didn't really have a good reason to leave," he says.

The Campbells aren't alone in moving to Almaden to raise their children and then staying around because they genuinely like the place they've called home since their children were young.

Almaden Valley began its suburban growth in the early 1960s when Del Webb built the Almaden Golf and Country Club, complete with surrounding homes. At a time when San Jose was looking for room to grow, Almaden Valley was a natural for San Jose's expansion.

Many of those who came in the first wave were young families, including a good number of engineers. Many of those early arrivals, of course, moved on. Others who saw their children through Almaden schools and then college eventually fled their empty nests, often spurred by the astronomical increase in the value of their suburban, middle-class homes.

But some of those first Almaden residents are still here, as are many of those who followed in the early '70s. Friendships formed when children were young have kept them here. For some, it's the fact that their children are now raising their own families in Almaden. Add to that that some local residents are moving their aging parents here to live. For whatever reason, Almaden Valley, the place where people come because it's a good place to raise children, is beginning to age.

In fact, Almaden Valley is reflecting the national trend. According to the 2000 census, there are now more than 35.3 million people in the United States older than 65; that's 12 percent of the total population. The aging of the Baby Boomers, long anticipated with dread and dire warnings, is—depending on how one classifies a "senior"—already upon us.

These days, one can attend a monthly AARP meeting in Almaden Valley or participate in a wide variety of senior programs at the Almaden Community Center. There's now an affordable senior housing complex at the corner of Almaden Expressway and Coleman. Even the Almaden Valley Counseling Service—once called the Almaden Valley Youth Counseling Service—has added a program aimed at Almaden's aging population.

Cathleen Starr, herself a 60-year-old, runs the agency's Geriatric Advisory Program, which targets the so-called "sandwich generation," those who are responsible both for children and aging parents at the same time.

Many of Starr's clients come to her for help when they realize their parents are starting to lose their ability to perform everyday tasks.

Starr's clients fall primarily in the 45­65 age group. "Even though they are getting information for their parents, they realize that it's information they'll need for themselves eventually," Starr says.

Another sign of the times is the class Starr offers called Women Approaching Retirement. "It's for women two or three years away from retirement," she says. "We talk about psycho/social issues as well as financial issues."

Not everyone who is growing old in Almaden moved here to raise their children. Dennis and Edith McFerran, 68 and 67 respectively, moved to Almaden 16 years ago. They had been married only a short time, and chose Almaden because they wanted room for their grandchildren to stay when they visited.

For many Almaden residents, friendships are formed through their children's relationships. For newcomers who arrive with children already grown, making friends can be tough.

Edith McFerran joined Holy Spirit Church when she moved to Almaden and had some involvement there, but their home was on a wide, busy street, not the sort of place one meets neighbors at a block party. Then one day Edith heard about a walking group offered through the Almaden Community Center and she joined.

The walking group was a part of the nascent senior program at the community center. "At that time," says Edith, "there were only about 100 members, and they met in a trailer."

That senior program is now a thriving program with 892 paid members. In large part, the success of that senior program is the reason a new 38,000-square-foot community center is about to be built in Almaden. The new center—which will continue to be a community center with a senior component, rather than a dedicated senior center—will be combined with a new 18,000-square-foot library. When it is completed, the community center will boast such amenities as a community room for 250 people, a dance room with wooden floors, a commercial kitchen and a cooking classroom, gym, workout room, computer room and art classrooms with a kiln.

Most seniors in Almaden say they can't wait for the new building to open.

And therein lies the rub. Everyone agrees a new building is needed. The morning stretch class that meets three days a week is so crowded that participants sometimes overflow into the patio.

Sixty-year-old Jack Campbell goes to that morning stretch, as does 67-year-old Arden Weiner, a widow who thought of moving to Sacramento when her husband died seven years ago, but who now says she has so many friends through the senior center she's glad she stayed. Dennis McFerran, who wasn't sure how to make friends when he moved to Almaden, and is now president of the Almaden Senior Program, is another regular at the morning stretch. Eighty-three-year-old Tom Beggs is so busy doing projects around the house and doing volunteer work, he barely has time for the senior program, but he tries not to miss the morning stretch.

"We're really happy about the new building," says Dennis McFerran. "But we're very worried about the impact on the senior community if they don't have a central meeting place for nearly two years ... the biggest concern is that people will stop feeling connected."

The building is scheduled for demotion in April 2004, and tentative opening date is January 2006. Torie O'Reilly, the gerontology specialist who runs the senior program, is trying to find temporary locations for all the classes that will be displaced.

Rosalie Marty, 60, is the administrator of Holy Spirit Catholic Church, but she also participates in the senior program. "There's a real sadness in the community because we waited so long to have something here, and now that we have it ... I'm afraid that with a nearly two-year wait for the new center, some people won't be able to transition to the new building."

Holy Spirit's social hall has served as a venue for some of the senior program's special events, such as a Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner program, which are so popular the community center can't accommodate the crowd. But Marty says the room's use by church members and by Holy Spirit School make it impossible for it to be used on an ongoing basis for a class like the morning stretch.

Just how did the Almaden Senior Program get to be such an integral part of the community?

Vice Mayor Pat Dando recalls trying to get funding for a senior program during her first three years in office. "I was told that because of the socioeconomic level in Almaden, a senior center would not be used," she says. "But the seniors at my church assured me that they would use it." When Dando moved her mother to the area, she began learning more about aging and the needs of seniors. "I was finally able to tell the council that I had a commitment from seniors that they would use the center if a program was funded." Some 41Ž2 years ago, the city funded a full-time position for a gerontology specialist.

O'Reilly, the gerontology specialist, developed a relationship with the Metropolitan Adult Education Program. Once classes were available, people started attending. In the first year after the position went full time, says O'Reilly, the membership grew to 400. Of the current membership of 892, some 72 percent live in the 95120 ZIP-code area. Participants range in age from 50­65 years old (24 percent) and 65­75 (46 percent) to 75-plus (30 percent).

Few would argue that 38-year-old O'Reilly is the spark that ignited the program. She is variously called "a blessing," "the heart and soul of the senior program," and, simply, "amazing."

"There's nothing she won't try," says Edith McFerran. "One day I asked if we could start a golf group, and she said, 'Absolutely!' Then we went out and started looking at courses."

Some warned that no one would take a Spanish class. But when the class started, so many people signed up, they had to add a second class. No one believed seniors would go for a tap-dancing class, but they did.

Some older residents of Almaden who had never even turned a computer on are now corresponding with their grandchildren on email, thanks to a SeniorNet program that currently boasts 140 students.

Eighty-five-year-old Marian Beggs wasn't much interested in computers, but she signed up for a class at the center. Now she not only keeps in touch with relatives on email, she's learning how to burn CDs in a SeniorNet class.

Seventy-two-year-old Gerald Clodius, a former nuclear engineer with General Electric, got involved with the senior program when he helped start a SeniorNet program. SeniorNet is the San Francisco-based nonprofit organization dedicated to teaching people who are more than 50 years old how to use computers and the Internet to pursue their interests.

"When I first started teaching the classes, only about half the students had a computer in their homes; now pretty much 100 percent do," Clodius says. "Teaching is fun because the students are so motivated," he adds. "At first, all they wanted was to learn how to write to their grandchildren. Now they're learning digital photography, making greeting cards and keeping track of their investments."

The center offers a class called "On Our Own," for widows and widowers. "We're very close," says Arden Weiner, whose husband died seven years ago. We always tell a joke when we meet; we talk about all kinds of things, including movies and politics, but if someone needs to talk about the mate they lost, that's fine. We've all been there."

Another popular class is English as a Second Language. "It's basically survival English," O'Reilly says. "When we had the wine festival a while back, the class learned how to navigate the festival, including how to buy a glass of wine."

As the population of Almaden becomes more culturally diverse, so, too, does the population in the senior program. Participation is now 50 percent white, 14 percent Asian, 6 percent Hispanic, 3 percent African American, 18 percent Asian Indian and 9 percent classified as "other."

"The group is becoming so intercultural," says Edith McFerran, "that when I was in charge of the Christmas program, I realized how many people who participate don't celebrate Christmas, so we changed the name of our luncheon to Winter Wonderland."

Her husband, Dennis McFerran, thinks the diversity is a positive for the program. "The experience of mixing with people from other cultures at the senior center has taught me to be more sensitive," he says.

Pat Dando may describe the eclectic mix of programming best: "It's not your grandmother's senior program," she says.

Many of Almaden Valley's older residents are trying to keep a stiff upper lip about the demolition and construction of their new facility, but most are clearly worried.

Arden Weiner speaks for many when she says: "So many people are lonely and not active. The program over there has made their lives better. I know the new building will be better, but I'm concerned ... ."

Meanwhile O'Reilly and Dando are exploring possible sites both for classes and a central meeting place. According to Dando, once the Almaden Winery's renovation is completed, that's a possibility. She says they're also looking at a retail space.

All this scrambling for a program that just a few years ago was considered unnecessary in Almaden Valley.

Anyone 50 years old or older can participate in the senior program at the Almaden Community Center. Membership is $5. For more information, call the center, 408.268.1133.

To contact Cathleen Starr about the Geriatric Advisory Program or the Women Approaching Retirement group, call 408.268.1737 or email castarr@sbcglobal.net.