Senior Center Opens in Hermosa Beach

Hermosa Beach's seniors have a new place to hang out--Hermosa Five-O,  located in the Community Center on Pier Avenue.

This senior activity center, which opened in April,  was built with a $100,000 grant from Los Angeles County. It offers a living room with games, couches and a spacious kitchen area that doubles as an exercise, lecture and activity hall.   

"A lot of really active, fun people have been coming," said Donna Hunter, the Community Center administrative assistant who applied for the grant.  

May's calendar has been filled with exercise classes, walking groups, lectures, bingo sessions and outings. A lecture this month focused on improving balance and coordination. 

Hunter anticipates that June will be even more packed. Starting next month, there will be two computers available that were donated by the city.

The center will be offering classes in Internet and e-mail use. Best Buy in El Segundo donated a TV, and the Community Center purchased a Nintendo Wii for video game tennis and bowling tournaments. Hunter said the center is hoping for a big-screen TV donation to put in the living room for movies.  

"It's starting to grow," Hunter said. "When we first had an exercise class, we had two people, then we had 10."   

Hermosa Five-O (for people 50 years old and up) is not staffed full time, but members have already started volunteering their time so its rooms can be open more often.

Membership, lectures and events are free. Exercise classes are $5, and bingo is $1.

Check out Hermosa Five-O's schedule by clicking this link.