If you’ve wanted a taste of a Hawaiian Luau but don’t want to take the time and expense to fly to the islands, join the Keenagers Saturday, September 17, at the West Windsor Senior Center for their version of the island tradition, complete with a whole roast pig and a Hawaiian dancer teaching the luau and demonstrating Polynesian dances.
The Keenagers, a club which has roots in West Windsor dating back to 1974, are having fun with the play on the word teenager. As one member put it, “we may be old, but we’re still quite keen.” The group, which includes about 70 to 80 members, meets at the senior center in the Municipal Complex. In addition to social events, the club is very active in community service and has recently been involved in collecting school supplies for children in need.
“We’ve met so many of our best friends through the Keenagers. We enjoy meeting and going on trips where we can sightsee and sing. We’ve even arranged barge rides up the Delaware Canal,” says Ed DiPolvere, 75, who along with his wife, Luci, 72, have been active members of the Keenagers for the last 15 years. Ed, a past president, is still on the executive board, and Luci is the club’s current president.
While the club runs a potluck supper on the fourth Thursday of the month, six years ago the decision was made to do something a little different. That was the birth of the luau.
This year the club, in conjunction with the recreation department, hopes to expand the reach of the event to the general public. Traditionally 45 to 50 people have attended. This year they’re hoping for up to 120 people who will enjoy chicken teriyaki, shrimp fried rice, roasted vegetables, rolls, punch, and of course, a whole roast pig, no larger than 50 pounds and cooked by experts from Pennsylvania, so it’s guaranteed to be tender and tasty. The feast will be topped off by a coconut pineapple-filled cake.
“It’s a great meal and a lot more reasonable than the prices they’ll charge you in Hawaii and Florida,” says Ed. Luci loves the social aspect.”It gets the community together. It’s not the same old dinner dancing thing.”
Ed and Luci (short for Lucia) have lived in West Windsor for 50 years in a home they built near Mercer County Park. Ed worked for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection as the chief of the Office of Noise Control for 23 years before he retired 13 years ago. Luci owned and operated the DiPolvere Nursery School in Hamilton for more than 25 years.
Ed was born in Philadelphia. His father was a stonemason who worked on several churches in Princeton as well as some of the university’s buildings. His mother was a homemaker. The family moved to the Trenton area when Ed was in the fifth grade. He studied mechanical engineering at Drexel.
Luci was born in Trenton. Her parents owned a mom and pop grocery store and her father worked for a rubber mill. He was also known in the area as the “Hoky Poky” man featured in articles in the Trenton Times. “My father made Italian ices and sold them from a truck at fairs around Hamilton in addition to working in the store and in the factory,” she explains. “My mother ran the store and was a fine seamstress who sewed clothes and did alterations.” She studied elementary education at Trenton State, now called the College of New Jersey, and earned a masters degree in early childhood education.
Ed and Luci met at a dance and all these years later, they’re still kicking up their heels as members of the Saturday Evening Dance Club, a ballroom dance organization that is 110 years old. In fact, Luci is a past president of the club and Ed is the current president. The club sponsors five major formal dances every year. “We like to dance everything,” Luci enthuses, “but we especially like to do the samba, polka, and waltz.”
The DiPolveres are also active in other areas. Luci won the service award for a federated women’s club in Trenton called the Contemporary. In 1999 her husband was named the Lion of the Year by the Lions Club of West Windsor.
The DiPolveres have two children. Mario, 42, is a buyer for Datacolor, a Princess Road company. Celia, 40, lives in North Plainfield and is a teacher of special needs children. They have one grandchild, 10-year-old Dylan.
So what do you wear to the luau? “I guess it will depend on what Ed chooses,” she reveals. “We have at least four different Hawaiian outfits. We’ll have to go back through the pictures and decide which one we haven’t worn for a while and that’s what we’ll end up wearing.”
— Euna Kwon Brossman
Hawaiian Luau, Senior Center, West Windsor Municipal Complex, Saturday, September 17, 5:30 p.m. $20 for ages 18 and above; $15 for Keenagers. 609-799-9068.
Hawaiian Luau at the West Windsor Senior Citizens Center By Euna Kwon Brossman WWP, September 9, 2005
