I am an older Ham-approaching 60 and have been licensed for 16 years. Most of the members of our club are over that, notice I say most. Our V.P. is 25 and she does an excellent job. We work hard to welcome everyone that walks in the door, the younger the better. We have a schoolhouse project where we have brought ham radio to a couple of charter schools in the area. We have "Hambone College" classes to help new people get licensed or get hams upgraded and I run an Elmers and newbies net every Sunday night. Our nets don't exclude anyone and if you call on our repeater, if I am home, I will answer and chat with you. There is a separate ARES group in the area but they are dying a slow death. Ham radio is what you make it, and we all believe that as a hobby should be fun, and ham radio is a hobby, then you should be having fun and we make it as fun as possible. KI4OYV, I will tell you, as a VE for 15 years and a VE Liaison for over 4, I would prefer you being an Extra as sometimes it is hard to get 3 VEs together for our monthly testing sessions during the summer. I tell anyone who approaches me to be a VE to please go for their Extra as I can put them to better use. I do have 1 General VE but she does the reading for the blind who want to become hams. Please take no offense. Outside of that, our club doesn't care what license you hold, how long you have been a ham, or how old you are. We just care that you enjoy the hobby, want to have fun and want to hang out with us.
"Wolfie", NW0LF
p.s. It is not the class of license the ham holds but the class of the ham that holds the license.