The Press & Sun-Bulletin (Binghamton, N.Y.) notes that America’s idealists are entering their retirement years — the oldest baby boomers turn 60 this year.

The oldest of an estimated 78.2 million baby boomers will turn 60 at the rate of roughly 7,900 birthday parties a day in 2006. The list of soon-to-be sexagenarians includes: President George W. Bush, former President Bill Clinton, business tycoon Donald Trump, actor Sylvester Stallone, and the seemingly ageless diva Cher. Baby boomers, who are expected to live longer than any other previous American generation, account for roughly 26 percent of the current U.S. population.

Baby boomers ? people born between 1946 and 1964 ? are largely acknowledged as the most populous, prosperous and educated generation in American history.

The story is built around interviews with local residents, but there are a number of sidebars filled with national statistics and some analysis of boomer influence on politics and culture.

While we might stand in awe of baby boomer power, it’s worth noting that their ideas of progress often feel slight to the generations that followed. Changing attitudes toward marriage, work and family, for instance, still have a long way to go. Susan Lapinski, editor of Working Mother magazine, told the Sun & Press-Bulletin, “Even if it’s imperfect, it’s a leap forward from the previous generation where dad went behind his newspaper after dinner and mom did all the bedtime rituals.”