The Hillcrest, located at the corner of Douglas and Rutan, sits adjacent to Wichita’s fashionable College Hill neighborhood. Towering 10-stories above the mix of architectural home styles and manicured flower gardens below, it watches protectively over the picturesque neighborhood nestled among rolling hills and tall oak trees.

As you watch young mothers pushing baby strollers in the morning sunlight under a canope of trees while children play in the nearby park, it seems as though time has left this particular part of the city untouched, somehow frozen in a bygone era.
And you wonder, how is this possible? What is it that makes this neighborhood so different?

Personal responsiblity, echoes Landis. 

“Nothing magical,” he explained. “The people took responsibility for their homes and their neighborhood. It’s that simple.”

Taking a leisurely walk through the neighborhood, people looked up from working in their gardens and smiled and waved at me. Couples sat on their porches chatting with one another enjoying the autumn weather. Joggers jogged and dogs walked their masters.

And the Hillcrest stood proud and tall watching over it all as it had since 1927.  

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 ... and schools and streets and banks and all kinds of retail shops and factories and an electric trolly car transporation system that linked three counties and theatres, glorious, palatial theaters like the Miller Theater at 115 N. Broadway ... constructed of $25,000 worth of marble from France, 2,000 yards of Wilton carpet, $4,500 worth of glass, 400,000 bricks and 150,000 pieces of tile and terra cotta. Total cost of construction in 1922 was more than $750,000.

With marble floors and plush carpeting, the Miller Theater showcased 50 years of Wichita’s finest entertainment, opening on May 1, 1922 and closed in 1970.

They built and they persevered, rising above every obstacle thrown at them, including an economic collapse in 1890, a flood in 1904 and the Great Depression in the 1930s.

We could learn a lot simply by looking at some postcards from the past.

Photos and historical information provided by the following sources: Kansas State Historical Society, Old Cowtown Museum and the Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum.

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So, what’s up with Nick and these other retirees volunteering and helping out?

To understand, let’s take a look back in time:

In 1900, the average American could expect to live to the age of 47. Today, the figure is 76, with continuing increases anticipated in the new century. The addition of three decades to the lifespan in less than a hundred years, according to information at www.civicventures.org.

Together with the impending retirement of more than 76 million baby boomers, the increase in life expectancy will transform America over the coming generation into a much older society. America now possesses not only the largest and fastest-growing population of older adults in our history – but the healthiest, most vigorous, and best educated. Just as important, older Americans possess what the middle generation lacks: time.

What this means is that the greatest American hero may not wear a cape or crawl up walls like a spider, but instead may be an everyday guy just like Nick, retired and wanting to help.

The facts are retirees have the time to care. Retirement frees up 25 hours a week for men and 18 hours for women. 

And best of all, they have practical knowledge, and in some cases wisdom, gained from experience. 

America's burgeoning older population could come to succeed middle-aged women as the backbone of civic life in this country—helping to revitalize our communities and rectify the great disparity in available time that has emerged between the generations—provided we can develop compelling new opportunities enabling older Americans to make a genuine contribution while benefiting themselves in the process.

But what exactly do older Americans want? When asked, here’s what they said:

• 65 percent said, it is "a time to begin a new chapter" in life by being active and involved, starting new activities, and setting new goals. 
• One-third of those polled (33 percent) said that "volunteering or being involved in community service" will be a "very important" part of their retirement. 
• Three in five respondents (59 percent) said they have volunteered or done community service work in the past year. 

Real heroes don’t have to wear capes or risk their lives for others, but they do have to give their lives to others.

Excerpted from the book “Prime Time: How the Baby Boomers Will Revolutionize Retirement and Transform America” by Marc Freedman, President of Civic Ventures. Published by Public Affairs (www.publicaffairsbooks.com).

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