While the young swimmers tried out for the Sharks swim team and those a little less fit began the Biggest Loser diet and exercise program, longevity took pride of place at the YM-YWHA of Union County on Sunday, Sept. 9. Seniors got their first taste of a new Sunday Funday program just for them, and an appraiser offered an Antiques Roadshow-style assessment of members' beautiful (or not so beautiful) old possessions.

The Funday program, funded by the Jewish Federation of Central New Jersey, will offer a varied range of programming for seniors on two Sundays a month. It began with the screening of the movie 51 Birch Street, the first of a series of films the Y will show each month through April, and was followed with a brunch. Well-fed and entertained, the seniors then joined the other members for the antiques appraisal show.

David Powell Willis, a retired antiques dealer and certified appraiser from Plainfield, moved with unhesitating authority down a table laden with all manner of treasures brought in by his audience, providing his estimate of current market value and a host of tips about care and evaluation.

The items ranged from a beer bottle crate with a checkers board lid, to a portly ceramic sugar bowl shaped like a rabbi, to iridescent glassware, paintings and prints, and Civil War guns.

Those weapons were brought in by Y president Mark Bloomberg. He inherited them from his wife Shari's father, who was a collector, and is in the process of having them valued. Powell Willis put a price tag of around $4,000 on a set of flintlock pistols with silver adornments, and valued two rifles with bayonets from the Tower of London Armory at around $1,200 each. If they had been made in the United States, he said, they would have been worth more.

Among the other objects, he placed a price of between $400 and $600 on a bronze sculpture of a little girl standing on a chair. "Don't polish it!" he admonished the owner. For objects that do need polishing, he said, his product of choice is Windex, because it isn't abrasive.

Aliza Meiri of Elizabeth brought in some old books of Jewish teachings from Eastern Europe that her late father rescued from being discarded at a synagogue in San Francisco. Powell Willis pointed out that the one had pages of handmade paper, which meant it dated from before 1860. Though he couldn't decipher the Hebrew characters, he valued the book at between $100 and $150 and told her that it could be rebound without losing value, because what was inside was more relevant than the outside. With that in mind, she said, she plans to show them to a dealer with an expertise in Judaica.

Linda and Lee Goldberg of Union brought in the sugar bowl rabbi. They said they had a creamer to go with him but couldn't find it in time. "I think we got it at an antique fair," Linda said. They didn't remember how much they paid but Powell Lewis' valuation of $150 was definitely more. They also brought in a delicate porcelain tableau titled "Afternoon Tea" made by the English company Royal Dalton. Judging by the "Made in England" stamp underneath, Powell Lewis said it was made between 1891 and 1950, and he put its worth between $175 and $225.

Asked if they would hold onto the items or sell them, the Goldbergs agreed that they might sell them. "Our daughter has no interest in these things," Linda said, and Lee added, "That way we can make space and look for other things."