Antoinette Mullen, 106 raises her hands as she is announced as the oldest person in the room during a special luncheon to celebrate residents who are 90 and older in Laguna Woods, CA on Tuesday June 18, 2019

In honor of the Village elders — nonagenarians and up, to be exact — the annual 90s Luncheon served up chicken florentine and an afternoon of Facetime with fellow age allies on Tuesday, June 18, in Clubhouse Five.

The tradition stands nearly 25 years, Clubhouse Five supervisor Ted Ball said, with over 200 in attendance this year. A total of eight centenarians attended, with Antoinette Mullen at 106 the eldest.

“This luncheon is really just about honoring their lives,” Ball said.

Chicken crepes were served up alongside cranberry mold, sugar snap peas, fresh-tossed green salad and buttered rolls.

A string trio made up of harp, cello and flute players set a soundscape for the afternoon event. Another special tradition is to ask for veterans to stand for a special honor. Ball estimated that there were at least 45 to 50 veterans in the crowd, with 80% having served in World War II.

The sweetest parts of the luncheon, at least for self-ascribed chocolate- and dessert-oholic Marilyn Sipiora, was the cream cheesecake and the new friends she made. Sipiora, 92, has gone to the event three years now since meeting the age requirement.

“I always meet the nicest people; the lady that I sat next to, you would have thought we were old friends,” she said, noting how she gifted a packet of her poems to each of her six tablemates. “I always enjoy these luncheons. Especially when the price is right — it’s free!”

Welcome to the City of Laguna Woods !!

Located just east of Laguna Beach in the heart of South Orange County, California, Laguna Woods is home to premier active adult communities and expansive open spaces. With the Pacific Ocean just five miles away, the 7,000 acre Laguna Coast Wilderness Park on our border, and the 4,500 acre Aliso and Wood Canyons Wilderness Park down the road, opportunities abound to take in the great outdoors. Laguna Woods residents also enjoy easy access to a vast array of social clubs, world class destinations, and continuing education at some of California’s finest colleges and universities. No matter where you live in Laguna Woods, you’ll find a diverse assortment of friends and neighbors, each with vibrant life experiences.

How many people live in Laguna Woods?

The State of California’s Department of Finance (DOF) estimates that Laguna Woods’ population was 16,319 as of January 1, 2017, a 0.1% decrease from the year prior[1]. DOF estimates incorporate United States Census counts, the most recent of which found that Laguna Woods’ population was 16,192. The population is known to experience some seasonal variation with the total number of residents present at any given time remaining mostly constant.

What is the average age in Laguna Woods?

What is the racial/ethnic composition in Laguna Woods?

[1] State of California, Department of Finance, E-1 Population Estimates for Cities, Counties and the State with Annual Percent Change — January 1, 2016 and 2017. Sacramento, California, May 2017.

[2] U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 Census.

Click Here To See Episode 5

Laguna Woods Village Foundation 

Saddleback Hospital Across the street from Laguna Woods Village

So what’s the secret to being happy and healthy and living long, productive lives? Psychologist, journalist, and author Susan Pinker says it’s “the village effect.” That’s the term she uses to describe the personal, face-to-face connections that help us survive and thrive.

How she discovered this started with the realization that females live longer than men, by an average of 15 years—“that’s a huge gap,” she said. And one notable character trait of women when compared to men is the
propensity to prioritize and groom social relationships across their lifetimes. However, there is at least one place in the world where men live just as long as women: Sardinia, Italy.

Sardinia’s claim to fame is its presence on the list of Blue Zones, regions of the world where people live longer than average. There, Pinker traveled to Villagrande Strisaili, a town so dense that you can’t go anywhere without meeting someone on the way, she said—it’s very makeup contributing to its social success and, subsequently, resident longevity.

She also discovered social bonds there that celebrate caring for loved ones as they age. In fact, providing support to the village’s centenarians is viewed as a privilege by younger generations, with everyone from relatives
to neighbors to priests chipping in to visit with and assist seniors in their daily lives. “These people are never alone,” Pinker said.

But it isn’t just familial bonds that help keep us going. Researchers out of Brigham Young University studied what reduces the chances of death the most, finding that clean air and treating blood pressure were actually on the
low end, flu vaccinations and not drinking alcohol were mid-range, and the quality and number of close relationships as well as social integration were actually at the top of the scales, Pinker said.

And it’s that latter point that she stressed: Weaker bonds that round out our social integration, such as walking the dog and talking to neighbors or playing cards with a regular group, are each critical components of our social lives. So if many of those casual relationships exist online today, what does that mean for our longevity?

Pinker said research shows it’s not great. In-person interactions, specifically, help reduce stress, improve blood pressure, and so on. From a hug to a high-five, even the smallest gestures of contact produce amounts of dopamine in us that simply make us happy. “We feel good. All of this passes under our conscious radar,” she said. And evidence suggests that hitting the “Like” button on Facebook just isn’t the same.

But, still, technology may play a role in combating isolation in the future. Pinker said some solutions exist—for example, social robots show promise. However, she’s focused on ways that we as a society, as well as this design industry, can better encourage in-person social interactions.

For example, she said, environments should be mindful of hearing loss and how sound is transmitted, reducing ambient noise so that seniors can better hear and communicate with one another. Additionally, “third spaces,” or those between home and work, offer areas for people to gather naturally (think picnic areas or tables and chairs in a park). “We pay a high price when we build communities that don’t pay attention to them,” she said.

And when it comes to senior living, specifically, Pinkersaid it’s critical to ask residents what types of spaces they’d like to have available, as well. “What do they need? What do they want? It’s very important to ask them.”

Pinker closed with a photo of a meeting area in VillagrandeStrisaili, where well-worn couches were positioned in a nondescript outdoor courtyard, a place where residents frequently gather despite its simplicity. She
then offered a final piece of advice: A third space doesn’t have to be new or expensive—“but it does have to be populated.”

In an age where we’re all isolated between work and personal lives that largely exist via technology, she argued that it’s time to recognize the tangible benefits of face-to-face interaction and start building our own
villages.