“The Martin Center is a place to keep people happy and active as they age. It’s a really unique place,” programming director Sherry Coss said. “This is not your typical senior center.”

Those who attend the center range in age from 50-96, and they take part in travel trips, fitness classes, writing and games of all kinds.

Part of the Fifty Forward network, The Martin Center is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to help adults 50 and older maintain their independence and active involvement in the community through comprehensive services, advocacy and community education.

 It’s also one of only two accredited senior centers within the state of Tennessee.

Fundraising events like The Music & Memories, a corporately sponsored annual concert, raise roughly $100,000 a year to support the center and cover its operating costs.

The perception of wealth in Williamson County is “an extremely tremendous hurdle” the center must overcome when it approaches fundraising, Coss said. Many people believe financial need doesn’t exist within the county. However, some of the center’s members have lived in Brentwood and Williamson County since there were dirt roads.

Since opening in 2002, the center’s membership continues to grow, primarily with Brentwood residents, and has more than 200 volunteers.

While a full schedule of classes, programs, workshops and social activities are held at the lodge-like facility that sits on a 5.6 acre lot, members are also on the go, taking field trips like visiting the Federal Reserve in downtown Nashville.

A sampling of offerings include the Historical Seniors, Word Smiths (writers), monthly  “Wine Sippers” tastings, book clubs, card groups and exercises and art classes. A massage therapist is available for appointments.

 “Basically if it’s legal, we do it,” Coss said.

The Martin Center provides a way for people 50 and older to meet people with similar interests and to stay “hip” with events like Wii Mondays, which Coss said is “a great way to stay fit.”

Not only that, the center offers “reasons to get up and get out of bed. That’s what you want at any age: laughter, fellowship, fun,” she said.

One member told Coss, “I look in the mirror and I don’t know who that is. I still feel 26.”

And she’s heard many others make similar comments.

The center also serves as an important networking hub for those 50 and over to connect.

Many times, people have moved to Brentwood to be closer to their children or other reasons which has caused them to leave behind their long-standing support networks.

When members have good news -- or bad -- to share, the Martin Center is often one of the first places they come to share it, Coss explained.

Ethel Buehler, 84, found her new circle at the center after moving to Brentwood five years ago. After her husband died, she relocated from Joelton to be closer to her son.

“I have met some wonderful friends,” Buehler said. “It just has been an overall great experience.”

Though she first made connections at the Brentwood Library and the YMCA, it wasn’t the same experience she found when she finally found the Martin Center.

 “Everyone greeted me so wonderfully, I thought this is the place for me,” Buehler said.