Published: September 18, 2007 11:45 pm      

Square dancing brings group together

Was it just exercise that made their cheeks so pink? That made their eyes sparkle more than their gleaming gold and silver necklaces and earrings?

As they promenaded, twirled and circled around the dance floor, was it only exercise that made the square dancers smile and laugh so readily?

“Once you’re here, you don’t think about any of your problems,” explained Pauline Brown, vice president of the Huntsville Promenaders along with husband, Bill. “It’s good exercise. It’s good therapy.”

The women sashayed by, often picking up full skirts to reveal glimpses of brightly colored petticoats. Julie Doyle twirled, revealing a fire engine red petticoat, then kicked up her matching red shoes.

“It’s the friendships that you make.”

Betty and husband, Bo, presidents of the club, began dancing when they decided not to spend their retirement “sitting and watching Monday Night Football and being couch potatoes.”

“I did not want to sit and wallow,” said Ellen Quinn, who started dancing about a month after her husband passed away. “Dancing is socialization and mental exercise.”

A large sign reads “The Promenaders Welcome YOU.”

To the right of the plain VCT dance floor, a young boy sat quietly in the area set aside for kids to play as his young mother, a second generation dancer, spun around the floor.

“Most men don’t want to come (but) then they like it,” Pauline Brown said as she laughed. “We tease the men that it’s because we do a lot of hugging!”

Some dancers begin rather reluctantly.

“Friends dragged us along,” said Marilyn Chumbley.

She and husband, Lewis, are current presidents of the Sam Houston Square and Round Dance Association.

“We’ve been dancing 20 years and now we have friends statewide,” Chumbley said. “In square dancing, there’s never a stranger.”

Betty Beene agreed.

“We went to Conroe to a country and western dance and saw several other people we knew,” Beene said.

“You can find a club dance every night somewhere,” Quinn said.

Brown said that the Promenaders often get together to play dominoes and other events.

“We’re like a big social club,” Brown said. “We dance together, meet new friends, travel together, go to dinner together, and play games together.”

“We invited some [visiting] dancers home for Thanksgiving once and now they come back twice a year. Some travel all over the world,” she said.

“We also have a club of cloggers who meet in Conroe and a club (that) round dances who meet in Conroe,” Beene said. “Some dancers also belong to a traveling RV club called the Camping Squares. (They have) a square dance wherever they camp, play games together, cookout together.”

Earl Hammersley, past president and current delegate along with wife, Arlene, said the group’s dancing is a little more modern than what some might think.

“This is modern western square dancing, not like the barn dancing your grandfather used to do,” Hammersley said. “Barn dancing doesn’t have a lot of moves.”

Hammersley said even a few youngsters take to the dance.

“A new club of home school teenagers in Bellville took right off (and) boy did they go,” Hammersley said. “They are a lot faster than we are.”

He agreed that the teens were not the normal age for square dancers.

“After people get their kids raised, in their 50s and 60s, they start dancing as a hobby,” he said. “They dance their way into retirement. Some dance right up into their 80s.”

Vic Anderson is proof.

Although there are several octogenarians in the group, Anderson stands tall at 89 years. He looks at least 20 years younger, to the envy of several other members.

He admitted he was “not typical” of all dancers his age, but said “we are all one big family.”

Anderson’s wife, Dot, also in her 80s danced until very recently when she broke her hip. Conversely, Ellen Quinn chose square dancing in part because of her past hip replacement surgery.

“It’s low impact exercise,” she said.

Beene agreed.

“Square dancers recuperate from surgeries amazingly fast,” Beene said. “Doctors tell you to get back dancing as fast as you can.”

“If you put a lot of energy into it, it’s like running five miles,” Brown said. “Although the special deserts defeat that purpose.”

The Huntsville Promenaders meet every Monday at the Tri-County Services building on state Highway 75 South.

Regular dances last from 8-9:30 p.m., although longer dances are sometimes scheduled when they have a guest caller.

The Promenaders, with 51 members, is the second biggest club in the Sam Houston Square and Round Dance Association, which includes fourteen clubs.

All the clubs raise money at Christmas for needy area families and as Toys for Tots donations. The Association meets about twice per year usually in Huntsville.

“That’s because we have the biggest and best dance floor,” Brown said.

Upcoming Fun Nights are Sept. 24 and Oct. 1, beginning at 7 p.m. Lessons begin Oct. 8 from 7-8 p.m. and cost $40 — or about $2 each.

A German Fest Dance is also scheduled for September. About 200 people are expected to enjoy German cuisine before the dance.

“It’s just good clean fun, no smoking or drinking and honest people. If you want to make new friends for life, this is the activity for you,” Beene said.

For more information, contact Beene at bsbeene@wildblue.net.