Boomer Social Network is organized by John Edwards, an advertising and marketing consultant.  He is also the editor and publisher of The Colorado Golfer, the state golf newspaper.

His 22-year relationships with Colorado country clubs, golf courses and hotels allow him to host dances at these locations.

Summer holiday singles picnics are held at the Foothills Golf Course in Lakewood and Creekside Park in Glendale.  Events have also been held at Heather Ridge Country Club, Overland Golf Course and Kennedy Golf Course clubhouses. The Sheraton Denver Tech Center Hotel, the Red Lion Hotel in Aurora and the Doubletree Denver North in Westminster are used for the big ballroom dances.

He organizes events in conjunction with other singles event planners such as Lory Gallagher of Spread the Word Network and Kathy Appleton of the 49-90 Club.

John began organizing singles dances in Denver in 1967 at the Lowry Air Force Base Officers Club while serving as the base Public Relations Officer.  Throughout the 1970’s, he was marketing consultant to some of Denver’s largest and most famous nightclubs including The #3 Lift in Glendale, Sweetwater live music club in Denver, Yesterday's Country in Lakewood and the Harvest House Hotel in Boulder.

In the 1980’s, he ran Professional Social parties for singles in the 30+ age every Tuesday night at the Wellington Broker in Glendale. Additionally he did a similar party every Wednesday night at the Boulder Broker and every Thursday night at The Raintree Inn in Colorado Springs. That hectic schedule lasted for three years.

During the 13 years he was married, John still consulted for area hotels, restaurants and nightclubs. For the past 25 years, he has published the Colorado Golfer, the state golf newspaper.

He is the national President of the Golf Travel Writers of America and created Hawaii Golf Cruises. A recognized golf travel consultant, he has been on 19 cruises and has stayed at and written feature stories about more than 80 of North America’s top golf and spa resorts.  He has also visited and written about resorts in Scotland, Ireland, England, Spain, Italy and France. He is affiliated with the full-service Spirit of Travel agency in Aurora.

Baby Boomer Singles Swing And Sway In Valley

Single Networks Are Drawing Boomers 45+  So Will They Ever Grow Up?

by Laura Lieff

Baby boomer singles are unmarried persons who were born during the demographic Post-World War II baby boom. The U.S. Census Bureau considers a baby boomer to be someone born during the demographic birth boom between 1946 and 1964, although the time frame is by no means exact. Baby boomers constitute over one-third of the Denver population and over half of them are single. Denver has been called the baby boomer singles capital of the United States. "They are everywhere," declared John Edwards an expert on baby boomer singles in Denver. Moreover, Edwards indicates they have no intention of looking or acting their age and these days don’t have to.

Medical Miracles On Aging

Several decades ago a 50- or 60-year-old often looked the part of a grandmother or grandfather. Normally the hair was gray and/or receding, the skin was deeply lined and discolored and individuals often suffered physical infirmities such as arthritic damaged knees and hips that greatly limited their mobility.

But no longer. With the help of hair transplants, laser peels for the skin, face lifts as well as botox and juvederm to alleviate the effect of gravity on the face, medical experts indicate that baby boomers can look 10 to 20 years younger than their actual age.

Concerning physical infirmities, knee, hip and shoulder replacements and other orthopedic surgeries allow the baby boomers to stay active and engaged in sports for decades longer than their grandparents.

At one time successful men in their late 40s and 50s had to look to much younger women to find mates to which they were sexually attracted. Similarly, attractive, older women with money would seek out younger males to satisfy sexual needs as sexual impotence was a real and widespread problem (although vastly underreported) for middle-aged and older males

But now cosmetic medicine has made baby boomer females look far younger than their age and the breakthrough of Viagra allows men to perform at a sexual level that was once limited to the young. In fact television ads for pills to cure "ED" which was once an almost taboo subject are now almost ubiquitous. A sexual arousal medicine for baby boomer women is even reportedly in the works.

The Baby Boomer Singles Scene

With an enormous number of baby boomers who are not married and the fact that those baby boomers looking for attractive mates no longer have to seek out much younger individuals to meet sexual needs, the advent of an active baby boomer singles scene has arrived.

There are bars that cater to baby boomer singles such as North and Cherry Street Grill in Cherry Creek North, Elway’s in the Cherry Creek Shopping Center, Earl’s, Capital Grille in downtown Denver and Cool River in the Denver Tech Center. On any given Friday in the Valley those drinking establishments are packed with baby boomers looking for love.

If a baby boomer singles bar isn’t your cup of tea, there is, of course, the Internet. You can go online and sign up for a baby boomer singles event for everything from cruise ship (zanza.com/Baby-Boomer-Cruises-Singles.htm) to mountain climbing (babyboomertrips.com/cat/Climbing).

If a baby boomer finds meeting someone over a computer a bit impersonal there has arisen a whole cottage industry to arrange single events and dances for baby boomers. For a long time churches and public gathering places would have "sock hops" and other dance events for teenagers. Now such events are a great deal less prevalent, and baby boomer singles have filled the void.

Among the incredible number of private organizations that cater to baby boomer singles are singles networks such as Boomer Social Network organized by John Edwards, Denver Singles News and Spread the Word Network. Although not an event organizer, Aurora realtor Ron Tallman operates denversocial.com, a free informational Web site that lists more than 200 events for singles and couples in the Denver area.

Local Singles Circuit

Eric Miller, a member of the baby boomer singles circuit and former San Diego resident, is a golf instructor who moved to Denver in July 2008. "There was no single scene for people over 40 in San Diego, and it was really hard to meet people," Miller said. "The Cherry Creek Valley has much better parties and groups that are more activity-based and fun. I like that it’s more of a social club and less of a situation where people are looking for a date."

Although the singles networks are obviously geared toward single people, Edwards says that finding a mate is not necessarily the object of the game. Rather than being an expensive matchmaking service or paid membership club, the informal networks support each other.

"I don’t want to have a dating club because if two people break up then I lose two great members," Edwards noted. "People just want to have a fun group to do fun activities with and not worry about anything but having a good time."

Adds Amy Morrison, a member of the Mile High Spirited Singles group, "All the singles groups cross promote and work together. Different people own different dates and everyone attends each other’s events."

While the Mile High Spirited Singles are known for their costume parties, Edwards, who is also the editor and publisher of Colorado Golfer newspaper, uses his contacts to secure golf course clubhouses that are unoccupied at night or in the winter. In the summer, Edwards hosts a weekly singles golf group at Kennedy Golf Course to teach women to play golf. The group plays the short par-3 courses in a team scramble format. Edwards says that his non-intimidating format has encouraged newcomers to keep playing the often demanding sport.

Great Time

"I’m part of John’s golf group and I’ve been attending his events for six years," said Jo Henderson. "His events are great because everyone has a great time and they are completely non-threatening. Everyone knows everyone and it’s very comfortable."

Today’s baby boomer singles have created new and different social networks to continue their active lifestyles, especially in Colorado," Edwards explained. "The only thing that will slow some of them down is the grave."

For more information on baby boomer singles events visit:

www.boomersocial.net

www.spreadthewordnetwork.com

www.denversocial.com

www.denversinglenews.net

www.upthecreek.org