Will the Strip
really look any
different with this additional influx
of 50-plus tourists?
IF YOU GO
What: Vegas@50+
When: Today through Saturday
Where: Sands Expo Center
Speakers: Author Maya Angelou; tennis star Martina Navratilova; TV producers Norman Lear and Garry Marshall; TV personalities James Brown and Al Roker; and actors John Amos, Olympia Dukakis, Steve Guttenberg, Penny Marshall, Doris Roberts, Jane Seymour and George Takei
Concerts: Gloria Estefan, tonight; Duke Ellington Orchestra, Tito Puente, the Zippers and Kool & the Gang, Friday dance party; and Faith Hill, Saturday
Admission: $25 for AARP members; $35 for nonmembers. Entry fee includes access to the exhibit floor, performance stage, opening and closing shows, and educational sessions. Tickets for the concerts start at $25.
More info: aarp.org/events
I crossed over last week.
Not in a psychic-John-Edward-ÒI see dead peopleÓ way.
I turned 51.
IÕm older than my doctor, older than the president of the United States, and IÕve apparently blown whatever chance I ever had to be included in one of those Ò50 Hottest People Under 50Ó magazine features.
Rather than mope and grumble, IÕm bright-siding. After all, this is a particularly good week to be over 50 in Las Vegas: AARP, the worldÕs largest member organization for people 50 and up, is taking over the town starting today, with a celebrity-salted three-day national-attention-getting event called ÒVegas@50+.Ó
More than 25,000 visitors are expected for the events, vendors, exhibits and performances today through Saturday at the Sands Expo Center. The weekend will generate an estimated $39.3Êmillion in nongaming revenue for Las Vegas.
Will the Strip really look any different with this additional influx of 50-plus tourists?
ÒI donÕt think Vegas will even notice,Ó AARPÕs C.B. Wismar says with a laugh. ÒAs many times as IÕve been here, I see a whole lot of our people who are walking the streets and in the casinos.Ó
As AARPÕs vice president of events, Wismar planned the hundreds of events — including 11 local tours — for the weekend. Shouting to me on his cell phone — Gloria Estefan is loudly doing her soundcheck in the background — he describes the annual weekend (it moves to Orlando next year) as Òabsolute joyful chaos.Ó
Other scheduled performers include the Duke Ellington Orchestra, the Tito Puente Jr. Orchestra and Kool & the Gang.
(Again, I ask, how is this really different from any other weekend on the Strip?)
The association formerly known as the American Association of Retired Persons legally and officially dropped the R for ÒRetiredÓ 10 years ago — you donÕt have to be a retiree to be a member anymore. So AARP is an association of uppercase letters, an acronym without a meaning.
I suggest some catchy variations: Club Medicare? Senior Moments?
Wismar politely (and maturely) demurs. ÒThe brand clout of those four letters,Ó he says, Òfar outweighed changing it to anything else. So weÕre AARP.Ó
AARP, which, like me, has been around for 51 years, publishes the worldÕs largest-circulation magazine (over 35.5Êmillion readers) and has more than 40Êmillion dues-paying members ($16 a year).
Wait a minute — no one ever told me I would have to pay my dues after I turned 50!
Anyway, AARP has snagged some impressively high-profile names to address its gathering, including Maya Angelou, Norman Lear, George Takei, Al Roker and Martina Navratilova, who are not usually associated with Vegas.
ÒItÕs the one time a year that we invite all of our membership to come into one place and try to offer them, frankly, an overwhelming amount of activity, information and experience,Ó Wismar says. ÒIt is physically impossible to do all the things which we offer people.Ó
HeÕs not kidding: I feel in need of a nap after he starts describing the activities, which include pairing Steve Guttenberg and Jane Seymour with pro dancers from ÒDancing With The StarsÓ as part of an exercise class for members.
AARP would seem to be recession-proof — the national median age is inching northward of 35, and the first Baby Boomers will hit 65 in 2011. ÒEvery day we get a new wave of members,Ó Wismar says.
ItÕs also nonpartisan — AARP even used an ÒelephonkeyÓ as the symbol for one of its campaigns — and non-industry-affiliated.
The groupÕs entire focus, Wismar says, is on the support and the benefit of members, with an emphasis on health care reform, financial security, livable communities and maximizing the experiences of life. Its AARP Foundation is an affiliated charity that provides security, protection and empowerment to older persons in need with support from thousands of volunteers, donors and sponsors.
Good stuff. Maybe IÕll head over to the Sands today. Check it out. Blend in.
And to the young(-ish) friend who smirkingly told me on my 51st birthday that I still have Òthe dewy face of a 46-year-oldÓ: DonÕt be so smug, pal — your day is coming.
Joe Brown can be reached
at 259-8801 or at joe.brown
Copyright 2009 Las Vegas Sun
