It was a real hoedown!
Area oldsters donned their western duds for a square-dancing shindig at the Fort Hamilton Senior Center on May 6. Locals packed the joint for the rollicking folk jamboree that put a spring back in some senior’s steps, said one party animal.
“It was fantastic. It was one of the best events we ever had,” said Bay Ridgite Connie Quinn, who is 89-years-young. “I haven’t been to one of those in a long time. It made me feel young. I looked like a real cowgirl.”
More than 60 seniors hit the dance floor and kicked up a storm in their buckaroo boots. Staff passed out straw cowboy hats and red bandanas to accentuate dancers’ cowhand looks. And workers gussied up the center with southwestern-inspired decorations, including painted desert backgrounds, cactus and cowboy cutouts, and plenty of plaid.
The atmosphere helped locals cut loose, in five squares of roughly a dozen people each, and form new bonds, said another regular.
“We do a lot of dancing, but it can be hard to bring new people into the mix,” said Bay Ridgite Joe Walsh. “But square dancing is very friendly. People were holding hands, swinging each other back and forth. It was a good time.”
