10 Ways To Meet Seniors Over 60

Meeting new people gets harder as you get older, especially once you've retired or moved to be closer to the kids. It's worth the effort though, for your head as much as your heart. Here are ten ways for Americans over 60 to meet other people over 60, online dating included:

• Start With The Senior Center

  There are more than 11,000 senior centers in this country, serving over a million older adults every day, and most people who use one go two or three times a week. Congregate lunches, fitness classes, cards, day trips, computer help, volunteer projects. Some cities now call them older adult centers, and New York alone runs more than 300 of them free to anybody 60 and up. If you don't know where yours is, call the Eldercare Locator on 1-800-677-1116 and they'll point you to it.

• Take An OLLI Class

  Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes run on 125 college and university campuses, with at least one in every state. Courses are for people 50 and older, and there are no exams, no grades and no credits. You take a subject because you want to. Everybody in the room chose the same thing you did, which is a decent head start on a conversation, and most institutes want volunteers for their committees too.

• Walk With A Doc

  This one is better than it sounds. Walk with a Doc was started by a cardiologist in 2005 and now has more than 700 chapters. A local doctor or medical student leads a free walk, gives a short talk on some aspect of health, and then everybody walks and talks. It's free, there's no fitness requirement, and AARP state offices partner with chapters all over the country. The format solves the hard part of meeting people, which is having something to talk about.

• Find A Rail Trail

  Over 41,000 miles of rail trail have been built across the country, on old railroad beds, which means they're flat, wide and easy on the knees. TrailLink will show you what's near you. The Great American Rail-Trail now runs more than 3,700 miles from Washington, DC to Washington State, and pieces of it pass close to a lot of towns. Local walking groups tend to be attached to the Y, the parks department or the hospital's wellness program. Mall walking is still going strong too, and there's no shame in it when it's a hundred degrees out.

• Play Pickleball

  Pickleball has taken over, and the over 60s are a big part of why. It's easier on the knees than tennis, the court is small enough that you can hold a conversation across it, and the social side is half the point. Courts have gone into parks and rec centers everywhere. If pickleball isn't for you, a bowling league or a line dancing class will do the same job.

• Look Into The VFW Or American Legion Post

  If you're a veteran, or your late spouse was, your local post is one of the most sociable rooms in town: fish fries, dances, bingo, breakfasts, a bar and a hall that gets used most nights. The VFW has over 1.3 million members and the American Legion has been going since 1919. Membership itself is tied to service, but plenty of post events are open to the public, so it's worth calling to ask what's on.

• Volunteer Through AmeriCorps Seniors

  AmeriCorps Seniors is the federal volunteer program for people 55 and older, and it places over 143,000 volunteers a year. RSVP covers general community service, the Foster Grandparent Program puts you with children who need mentoring, and the Senior Companion Program pairs you with other older adults so they can stay in their homes. Some roles carry a small stipend. Volunteering puts you shoulder to shoulder with people who care about the same thing you do, which beats making conversation from a cold start.

• Join A Book Club At The Library

  There are more than 17,000 public libraries in the country and nearly all of them run book clubs, author talks and writers' groups for free. A good number meet during the day, which suits people who no longer have to be anywhere at nine in the morning. If a full book club sounds too much like homework, go to a one-off author talk instead and see who you end up talking to in the parking lot.

• Get Out To The Parks

  If you're 62 or over, the America the Beautiful Senior Pass costs $20 for the year or $80 for life, and it covers entrance to the national parks plus federal recreation sites, with discounts on some campgrounds. That's one of the better deals in American life. Hiking clubs, Audubon chapters and Sierra Club outings all run group walks, and a shared trip somewhere is a far easier place to meet somebody than a room where you're supposed to mingle.

• Online Dating

  Last of the ten, and worth trying. Sites built for older Americans, like Singles Over 60, keep things simple, because everybody is in the same age bracket and there for the same reason. You can search, send a message and take as long as you want before meeting in person. Put some effort into your profile, use a recent photo, be clear about what you're looking for, and say yes to a coffee when it feels right. Meet somewhere public the first time and tell someone where you're going.

Whichever one you pick, it works the same way: showing up more than once is what turns strangers into people you know. Most groups are happy to let you try before you commit to anything, and if the first one isn't for you, there are nine others on this page.

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