Seniors enjoy a good time in Cherry Hill
To some, the Carman Tillelli Community Center may just look like a gathering place in Cherry Hill.
But on Tuesdays and Fridays during the afternoon, the brick façade and cozy yellow walls mean a whole lot more to a group of 80 or so retired men.
“Eight hours here a week … it’s a Godsend to me,” said Mark Markos, a past president of the Cherry Hill Retired Men’s Club.
The World War II veteran appears as if he just retired, yet the 90-year-old, who joined the club 1988, says he has both a cell phone and a tablet computer, as he slouches back into his folding chair to play another round of pinochle with the boys.
The community center, according to township folklore, was built by another men’s club in the 1950s, Markos said. When the club couldn’t pay to upkeep the building, they gave it to the township.
And since then, Markos added, the township has treated its senior citizens well.
The group includes a range of people; most are from Cherry Hill, although members don’t have to be residents to join.
The only requirement is that members are retired.
How long one has been retired doesn’t quite matter, either.
Take Henry Bourgeois, who joined the club six years ago.
Bourgeois, 98, enjoys playing card games twice a week with his friends in the club, who he says, keep him young.
Aside from the pinochle and bridge tables — and the occasional shuffleboard match — on any given day, the senior citizens are treated to the tunes from yesteryear, as queued up by Larry Leibowitz, who has been with the club since 2001.
He didn’t always enjoy spinning tunes, but picked up the trade as a hobby when he joined the group more than 10 years ago.
As Leibowitz and I sat down to chat, he began detailing his family’s roots — about his life growing up in Brooklyn and attending the New York School for the Hard of Hearing, his move to Cherry Hill to work at the Philadelphia Naval Yard, to his life now, which he fills with tending to his vegetable garden, making model ships and volunteering with the Special Olympics.
He said the retired men’s club, though, is his place of refuge.
“It’s about getting away from the house because nobody is home,” Liebowitz said.
The card games and shuffleboard matches fill the time, but many members of the club say the conversations had and friendships formed are what keep them coming back year after year.
Groups of men relive their memories from World War II as if it were yesterday.
And many of the men said it’s comforting to be able to share their own experiences with someone else who knows what they went through.
“We never talk about women,” joked Charlie Laible, who celebrated his 85th birthday last week. “We share stories and talk about the past, especially about being in the service. It’s a social thing. They’re very nice people.”
But sometimes the conversation is much more lighthearted, members said.
The men share tips with each other, especially when it comes to saving money or applying for a tax credit or rebate.
Members also talk about their health from time to time, consulting friends in the group along the way for advice and support.
Current events and politics are also hot topics at the card table on a regular basis. Joking and laughter are always par for the course.
“We always talk about something different,” Laible said. “It’s a very hospitable place to come to.”
The club meets Tuesdays and Fridays from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Community Center, 820 Mercer St.
Coffee and tea are available for 25 cents each, with the proceeds going to subsidize lunches held occasionally at the club and out on the town.
Interested men can call membership chairman Gene Wonderlin at 663–6398 for more information or to join the club.
Dues are $10 a year; Markos said the $10 fee will be waived for the first year for prospective members who mention this article in when joining.
