TINA MARKOE KINSLOW/Courier-Post Monroe's senior citizens enjoy each other's company as much as the low-cost hot lunches that are served weekdays at the Pfeiffer Community Center.

For Ron and Joan Kurek, there is no better place than right here to spend their golden years.

The couple spend nearly every weekday afternoon enjoying a hot meal with other local seniors at the Pfeiffer Community Center.

At their home in the 55-and older Holiday City complex, the Kureks are frequently guests at the complex's clubhouse, where seniors participate in aerobics, kick boxing, line dancing, pinochle, billiards, rug hooking or a summertime dip in the outdoor pool.

"We love being in an adult community because it's so quiet," said Joan Kurek, 64, who moved here nearly six years ago from a congested and noisy Northeast Philadelphia neighborhood. "You just don't have these sorts of things in Philadelphia."

"Here in Monroe you can get as involved and as active as you want," said Ron Kurek, 63.

Monroe senior citizen population, 60+ 1990: 4,204 2000: 4,964 Change: +18% Source: 2000 Census

More seniors moving in

The Kureks are not alone. Increasingly, seniors and older adults are moving into Monroe.

According to U.S. Census data, the number of residents between 55 and 59 years old increased by nearly 60 percent between 1990 and 2000, going from 1,013 to 1,620.

The number of residents between 60 and 64 years old also increased nearly 14 percent, going from 1,080 to 1,227. Also, the number of residents between 65 and 74 years old increased by nearly 3 percent.

Furthermore, the number of households with individuals 65 years old and over increased by nearly 24 percent to 2,742.

Jeanette Remsen, 67, acting chairwoman of the Monroe Township Senior Commission and a lifelong township resident, said dozens of township seniors keep active with a variety of municipal- and county-run activities.

One Saturday each month the commission sponsors an entertainment trip, such as a recent jaunt to a dinner theater in Cape May. In addition, the municipality sponsors a free bus to local shopping centers four days a week. And every Wednesday a free regional bus trip is planned that includes at-home pickup and return.

Some recent and planned Wednesday excursions include Cumberland Mall, Franklin Mills Mall, Smithville, a tour of dollar stores, Wildwood and Philadelphia's Reading Terminal Market.

Need to get involved

Remsen said Monroe is simply an attractive place for seniors to retire.

"A year ago, we went to see Lucy the Elephant in Margate and folks down there were asking what the trip costs our seniors," Remsen said. "When they found out it costs nothing, they couldn't get over it. There aren't too many townships that offer this for their seniors."

Remsen said her only complaint is that even more seniors don't become active and involved with trips and programs offered.

One of the most popular events is the county-run senior lunch program. Weekdays, seniors can enjoy a hot lunch prepared by Auletto's Caterers in Deptford inside the Pfeiffer Community Center for only $1.25 a day.

"I don't know how people can complain," said Joan Kurek, getting ready to delve into a recent day's special … hot tuna hoagies with a dessert and coffee.

"The whole idea of this program is to get people out of their house and it works," said Ron Kurek. "I love to come here and meet other people and socialize a little."

June and Erwin Pierce are also regular attendees of the senior lunch program.

Residents of Friendly Village, a manufactured-home community off the Black Horse Pike for seniors, the Pierces said they enjoy the municipal-sponsored senior activities as well as those available at the complex clubhouse, such as bingo, a garden club and other groups.

Bus service for seniors

"They treat seniors a whole lot better here than Burlington County does up in Marlton," said Erwin Pierce, 74. Pierce and his wife moved to Monroe from Marlton two years ago. "Fortunately we don't need it yet, but they have very good bus service for seniors here."

"I love that there's a lot less traffic on Route 42 here than on Route 73, where we used to live," said June Pierce, 71. "The Marlton Circle is terrible.''

Frank Campisi, Monroe's director of community affairs, said he envisions a day in the near future when the heavily-used Pfeiffer Community Center is dedicated nearly exclusively as a senior citizens center.

"I can see us, at some point, building a new recreation center," Campisi said. "That would have gym space and more meeting space. But that would allow us to devote more of the current space for senior activities.

"I'd also like to see us have a dedicated senior coordinator," Campisi said.

"The township is growing and the senior population is growing such that we have to be responsible to those people," he said.

The only drawback to senior living in Monroe, according to the Kureks, is the upward spiraling school taxes.