It was November 9, 1965 when the lights went out.

The Great Blackout of the Northeast occurred at 5:16 PM when a a small surge of power coming from Lewiston, New York’s Robert Moses generating plant, tripped a misset relay, disabling a main power line heading into Southern Ontario. Within seconds other lines were overloaded and relays tripped, generators shut down and the Northeast was plunged into darkness for the next twelve hours.

The blackout affected Ontario, Canada, and Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, New York and New Jersey in the United States. Around 25 million people were left without electricity.

The blackout inspired the 1968 film Where Where You When the Lights Went Out? and figured in the plots of many a 60s sitcom, being featured in such shows as Bewitched and Green Acres. In the early 90s it was the subject of an episode of the time-traveling sci-fi show Quantum Leap.

So, where were you when the lights went out?

If you look up the term golden ager at dictionary.com you will find a narrow definition that gives no insight into seniors and retirees of today.

The title Golden Agers refers to more than just a demographic. Golden Agers of today belong to a savvy, privileged group. They have lived through wars, real and Cold. They have listened to the Golden Age of Radio and watched the Golden Age of Television. They have been witnesses to the greatest explosion of scientific knowledge and technology in the history of mankind. They weren’t born with a TV remote or a computer mouse in their hands but they can use technology as well as any youngster who was. They are truly a generation whose feet are in two centuries, enjoying the advances in science and medicine of the current period but remembering the lessons and the pleasures of the last.

I like the dictionary.com definition of golden age:
“the period in life after middle age, traditionally charaterized by wisdom, contentment and useful leisure”.

Labels mean nothing, they are conveniences of the media. Whether you call them seniors or oldsters, boomers or elders, what is clear is that they belong to a generation that doesn’t take retirement lying down. They are involved, active and knowledgeable.

They are Golden Agers.

I found this under the Humor section at Senior Resource:

The people who are starting college this fall across the nation are too young to remember the space shuttle blowing up.
Their lifetime has always included AIDS.
Bottle caps have always been screw off and plastic.
The CD was introduced before they were born.
They have always had an answering machine.
They have always had cable.
They cannot fathom not having a remote control.
Jay Leno has always been on the Tonight Show.
Popcorn has always been cooked in the microwave.
They never took a swim and thought about Jaws.
They can’t imagine what hard contact lenses are.
They don’t know who Mork was or where he was from.
They never heard: “Where’s the Beef?”, “I’d walk a mile for a Camel”, or “de plane Boss, de plane”.
They do not care who shot J.R. and have no idea who J.R. even is.
McDonald’s never came in Styrofoam containers.
They don’t have a clue how to use a typewriter.

J. Williams

The problem is that all those things are much more true than they are funny. The world is changing so quickly now that most of the population do not know what life was like before the invention of television. Notice that the majority of the points made up there have to do with entertainment – and the television has been the most important single factor in the explosion of entertainment that occurred in our lifetimes.

Every generation sees change; new ideas and inventions have always come along and altered the way we see the world. But our generation has seen more change than any other and most of it has been through the television. If the pace of change continues to accelerate, what will the world be like fifty years from now? And will new generations not understand things that were common knowledge only ten years before their time?

Sometimes I look ahead to such things and am glad that I won’t be there to find out the answers.

“America’s oldest teenager”, Dick Clark, is selling a lifetime of memories.

Fifty years after the first “American Bandstand” show aired, the 76-year-old Clark is auctioning off some impressive music memorabilia including a bass guitar played by Beatle Paul McCartney and a harmonica played by Bob Dylan. You can read more about the auction here.

Dick Clark is well-known for his years as the host of American Bandstand, the show our parents didn’t want us to watch (making it all the more attractive). In addition, he had success hosting the game show $25,000 Pyramid. His Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve debuted in 1972 and has become a tradition that continues to the present. Although Dick suffered a stroke in 2004, he struggled back to return as host of the New Year’s special in 2006. Many stroke survivors praised him for being a role model for those dealing with recovery from stroke.

Dick Clark is famous for his longevity, youthful appearance and energy. Although slowed by the stroke, Dick has battled bravely back and has been in front of the cameras doing what he does best: entertaining.

Dick Clark’s 77th birthday is Monday, November 30th so we here at Golden Agers would like to wish him a happy birthday a little in advance.