Jeffco AARP to celebrate 48th anniversary in Lakewood

SUBMITTED BY: Dana Slone, AARP

Jefferson County’s AARP Chapter will celebrate its 48th

birthday May 13 at the Clements Community Center, 1580 Yarrow Street in Lakewood.

Why is 48 significant?

Chapter President is LaDean Gerstner said, “At 48 years old, we’re the oldest

AARP chapter in Colorado, and the third oldest in the United States. The chapter

is older than the city of Lakewood,” said LaDean Gerstner, president of the Jeffco Chapter. “We’d really like to go for 50. Then we’re going to have a really big cake.”

The guest speaker will be Lakewood Mayor, Bob Murphy, who will talk about the changes in Lakewood since the Jeffco chapter’s inception. The mayor will speak at 12:30 p.m., then will then cut the birthday cake. The speech will be followed by an Open House from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.

“Providing services and information to our older-adult residents is so important, and it is great to see that the Jefferson County Chapter of the AARP has such a long history of serving our seniors,” Murphy said. “AARP helps older adults stay active and informed, and I am honored to speak to the chapter on its 48th birthday.”

There are about 700,000 AARP  members in Colorado. AARP local chapters

provide a forum for discussing and addressing the needs of Colorado’s senior

population on a local basis as well as providing support to AARP member

volunteer-supported programs such as Driver Safety, Tax-Aide and it’s broader

community volunteering initiative, Create the Good.