With unemployment at its highest since 1983, it might seem an odd time to worry about a shortage of workers, but that’s what business leaders face in the not-too-distant future. “This doesn’t reflect our economy today, but we need to look at this because it’s really important that we remain competitive in the world,“ said Michel Zajur, president of the Virginia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. “And one of the ways to do that is to have a strong, vibrant and educated work force.“

A wave of aging baby boomers is coming, and the Older Dominion Partnership is making sure Virginia is prepared. In a meeting at the Richmond Times-Dispatch’s downtown offices yesterday, about 100 people discussed the nonprofit group’s efforts, its progress and hopes for the future. Created in 2007 by community leaders with the support of the Richmond Memorial Health Foundation and others, the Older Dominion Partnership is a nonprofit initiative aimed at helping Virginia prepare for that demographic shift, or age wave.

Read more about the Older Dominion Partnership and its work at http://www.olderdominion.org.

Have you seen the advertising campaign for Dos Equis beer featuring “The Most Interesting Man in the World”? Each commercial depicts exploits from the “interest MATT
THORNHILL
ing man’s” past, or he offers insight on a particular topic. For example, on the topic of “Life” he says, “It is never too early to start beefing up your obituary.“

As boomers gets older, their need for health care will increase. Health reporter Tammie Smith talks about her Sunday story that will explore how experts are preparing for that change.

The national debate on health care may be finding its way into more cocktail party conversations, but in our recent experience interacting with older boomers, the national issue runs a distant second to a more per sonal topic—me and my doctor(s). At social gatherings over the past few months we have been struck by the number of conversations between older boomers, those over 50, about doctor visits, chronic conditions, recent procedures, physical therapy sessions, and prescription drugs. At first we thought these boomers were talking about providing care for elderly parents. But no, the patient was in the room; in fact, he or she was in every conversation.

Two recent conversations haunt me. An old college friend, a leading-edge baby boomer (age 63) whom I knew to be a person of faith in college, told me he and his wife “had given up on the institutional church.“ The other con versation was with an educated professional friend, also a baby boomer, who describes herself as spiritual but not religious.

Boomer volunteers becoming resource Conference readied to help potential recipients use them A wave of baby-boom-age volunteers is heading to the area. Are nonprofits and government agencies ready to receive their time and talent? How will this potential resource help meet community needs? On Thursday, answers will be shared during a one-day conference for nonprofit and government agency executives, geriatric and health service professionals, volunteer coordinators, and leaders of faith-based and neighborhood outreach programs.

Editor’s note: This is an edited transcript. To watch the entire Public Square online, go to TimesDispatch.com and type in keywords “Public Square.“  Tom Silvestri, publisher of The Times-Dispatch: This Public Square is a special one because it’s about you. It’s about you and the role of worrying about your community and working in your community.

Before Bob Argabright retired in 2004, he looked forward to days of leisure. But now he finds fulfillment volunteering at least 40 hours a week helping schoolchildren and their families in an impoverished Richmond community. At 66, Argabright is a little older than the baby boomers, the demographic group born between 1946 and 1964. But his passion for engaging in work reflecting his values, using expertise from his work life and influencing lives is typical of boomer volunteers, nonprofit leaders and researchers said.

The first seven cottages are occupied in a new community that provides both freedom and lifetime care in Chesterfield County. Springdale at Lucy Corr Village is an addition to a fast-growing trend for serving aging baby boomers. The construction of 18 cottages and 52 apartments—to be completed by midsummer——is turning a venerable public nursing home and assisted-living facility into a continuing-care retirement community.

Christmas, as Charlie Brown has long understood it—and the Grinch, too, ever since his heart grew three sizes that fateful day—isn’t about the presents: It’s about so much more. We’re seeing the evidence in family rooms across America. Consumers of all ages are deciding that happiness on Christmas morning can’t be found in a big box store, and it can’t be wrapped up in pretty paper. Buying and owning more stuff provides no lasting satisfaction—only bigger credit card bills and a shriveled savings account. Americans of all ages are craving what money cannot buy: the rewards of friendship, family, community, and spirituality. Mass consumerism by the masses is dead.

The economic downturn is spawning a “new frugality” that could become a useful trend in addressing the coming age wave, a founder of the Older Dominion Partnership said yesterday. “I think we are entering a new era in terms of financial wealth and the ability to live beyond our means like we have in the past,“ said John W. Martin, president of the Southeastern Institute of Research and one of the organizers of the Older Dominion Partnership. “We’re seeing a new sense of frugality, and a new sense of shared responsibility and civic engagement.

In our crisis-driven society, the attention of most Americans is riveted on the dramas of the day playing out on our plasma screens and newspapers. It’s hard to devote much thought to problems looming 20 years ahead. But if there’s one thing we can predict with certainty, it’s that the inexorable aging of the baby boomer generation will create tremendous pressures for change in our communities.