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Baby Boomers are putting a new spin on the word "senior" and the Gaithersburg Upcounty Senior Center aimed to wow that crowd on Monday with an Active Aging Exposition.

"People feel better, people feel younger, people feel healthier, they want to stay active longer,

said Grace Whipple, director of the senior center. "We grew up on Jane Fonda."

The event at the Bohrer Park Activity Center, brought hundreds of upcounty residents to enjoy massage treatments, games, Brazilian line dancing, reflexology demonstrations, a laugh exercise class, theater games and more.

According to data compiled by the Montgomery County Committee on Aging, about 169,000 county residents will be over age 60 in 2010. By 2030, that number should grow to 279,000. The challenge for senior centers is how to identify themselves as they move into the new era, said Whipple.

"Even the term senior is controversial now. I think it doesn't have the image that the Boomer wants," she said. "They like active older adults. They like mature adults." A benefit is that "they enjoy participating in activities that maybe traditionally we haven't thought of," she said.

Margarete Britt, 74, of Gaithersburg is not a Baby Boomer. She still drives and has no interest in sitting around knitting, crocheting or playing cards, she said.

She heads to the senior center for classes, lectures and outings, she said. Her goal is to learn new things, meet new people and socialize, she said. On Monday she picked up brochures on issues from Social Security to weight training.

Whipple said she designed Monday's fair to appeal to "a full range" of users, from 50-somethings to 98-year-old Bill Carriage, the senior center's oldest member. The exposition brought the usual health screenings and recruiting booths for volunteer activities. It also brought fitness room tours, introduction to new exercise classes, confidence-building and team-building games and "pampering," including facials.