Aurora's Friendly Center Club director keeps seniors active, happy

On a day in January when temperatures barely reached double digits, the cold didn't stop more than 150 seniors from turning out for the Friendly Center Club meeting at Prisco Community Center in Aurora.

They had lunch, celebrated birthdays, joined hands and sang the Friendly Center Club song, welcomed guests and played bingo.

Member Zelma Albertsen said she's been coming for years, and even persuaded her daughter, Cyndi, to join.

“It's a lot of fun,” she said. “We have parties and luncheons every month.”

Albertsen and other club members said the key to the group's success is Jennifer Huber, the Friendly Center Club's supervisor for the past 13 years.

“The club has really grown since Jennifer took over,” Albertsen said. “She knows everyone by name.”

“She seems to care about each and every one of us,” added 15-year member Katie Boyle. “Each person she makes feel special.”

With 250 members on its rolls, the Friendly Center Club celebrated its 60th birthday in November as the oldest active senior club in Illinois. The 44-year-old Huber said quite a few of the members have known her since she was a little girl growing up in Aurora. She was often baby-sat by her grandparents and felt close to them.

“It's like being in a room full of grandmas and grandpas. I feel very comfortable,” she said. “I love it. I really do.”

The love and respect Huber and the seniors share is mutual. When Huber married her high school sweetheart six years ago, she held a special reception a week after the wedding at the Friendly Center Club so members could see her in her wedding dress and share her celebration.

Another time, when Huber wanted to go on a two-week trip to Alaska, club members came up to ask what they could do so she could get away, said Tim Johnson, Huber's part-time assistant and a retiree himself.

“They love her. They'll do anything for her,” he said.

Huber was nominated last year for one of General Motors' “Our Town, Our Heroes” awards by a club member. She was one of four statewide finalists.

“It was nice to be nominated. It was exciting,” she said.

Huber started at Fox Valley Park District's Prisco Center 17 years ago as a secretary. But, she explains, she liked working at the center so much she enrolled in Aurora University to earn a recreation administration degree.

Huber was doing her internship at Prisco when the then-supervisor of the Friendly Center Club went on maternity leave and then took a position at another park district facility. The Friendly Center Club and the other senior programs at Prisco have been Huber's charge ever since.

The only requirement for club membership is to be 55 or older, she said.

“Everyone is welcome at Friendly Center Club. You don't have to live in Aurora,” she said.

Members pay $2 at the weekly Thursday meetings, which often include a special speaker or program. Themed-parties are held once a month.

Sadly, Huber told members at that cold January meeting, the Thursday lunches provided by the Salvation Army's Gold Diners program are expected be discontinued after mid-February because the Salvation Army wants to move them to another nearby location.

Many Friendly Center Club members join in other park district-sponsored activities organized by Huber. She is proud of the Fun Friday group that goes on monthly outings related to history, education or nature. The outings are so popular, the park district often has to take a bus and a van.

“A lot of my trip ideas come from suggestions of my customers,” she said.

There are also trips to casinos, shopping destinations, stage shows, Chicago Cub games, behind-the-scene tours, and gardening locations.

Other activities include a lunch group, bowling group and bean bag baseball. A Golden Foxes Walking Club takes to the local trails.

Johnson said Huber works with other senior organizations, retirement homes and businesses to provide activities, refreshments and bingo prizes.

“Anything to keep the seniors active,” he said.

The seniors themselves admit that, well, Huber must have a lot of patience.

“Sometimes seniors can be difficult,” said Jack Glafford, who, with his wife, Carol, is a 13-year member of the Friendly Center Club. “She tries hard to please everybody.”

Huber admitted that it can be challenging to find activities that interest both the growing number of Baby Boomer seniors coming into the club and the older members. But the two generations get on fine, she said.

“They merge really well together. They help each other,” she said.

Huber said she respects the resourcefulness, sense of honor, pride and loyalty that she finds in older adults.

“I feel they are very wise. I think sometimes people don't always appreciate what they have to offer,” she said.

For information on the Friendly Center Club, contact (630) 859-8606 or foxvalleyparkdistrict.org and go to the community centers tab.