Talking 'bout their generation

Welcome to your friendly neighborhood "Boomer Center"?

Franklin and Northborough are considering renaming their new senior centers and dropping the word "senior" entirely, although neither community has decided on a new name. The town of Medfield's new senior center, currently under construction, will be known instead as the town's "Adult Community Center."

The S-word "has a very negative connotation for some folks, especially for baby boomers," said Karen Alves , director of the Council on Aging in Franklin.

Bob Pitman , chairman of the National Institute of Senior Centers, said baby boomers surveyed by his organization overwhelmingly rejected the word "senior," feeling it has a negative connotation. While only 7 percent of people age 75 and older had problem with the word, 90 percent of respondents in their 50s didn't like it.

In just a few years, baby boomers are expected to be a growing segment of the new senior centers' clientele. Thousands of the oldest members of the post-World War II generation turned 60 last year.

Pitman said he suspects that today's younger seniors are having a harder time coming to grips with aging and the stereotypes associated with it. They are vibrant, healthy, and will likely live longer than preceding generations.

"We boomers like the term 'boomers,' " said Pitman, who is 57. "Even though we're in our 50s and 60s, it has a very useful feel."

Kelly Burke , director of the Northborough Senior Center, said community leaders have not yet decided what to call the town's new center, which is still on the drawing board. There have been lots of talks. She said she thinks the name should remain the same, adding that a senior center "is what it is."

"It's what you have inside, not the name of the place" that matters, she said.

And in Medfield, Town Administrator Michael Sullivan noted that the community's new "Adult Community Center" has been the butt of jokes about an "adult entertainment" zone. Figuring out a name was a lengthy process, as people rejected not only the word "senior" but "council on aging" and anything that involved the term "elderly."

"It gets kind of silly," he said. "And now that I've turned 60, I can speak with some authority on it."

Megan Woolhouse can be reached at mwoolhouse@globe.com.