Let the good times roll
Published 10:20 pm Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Good times continued to roll at holiday parties last Friday, and senior citizens — including two nonagenarians — were in full swing.
The first event, an annual Senior Christmas Gala, was sponsored by the Suffolk Parks and Recreation Department and was held at the National Guard Armory on Godwin Boulevard. During the festivities dancing took place with music provided by the DJ team of Music Masters — Allen Picott and Benford Hunter.
I thought at the age of 64 I was very blessed to be able to move like I do but Janie Ward, 93, has me beat. When the DJs played Chuck Berry’s 60s hit “The Twist,” Ward jumped on the floor and began to show how it was done.
After that song ended, another song began to play, and William Barnes led her on the floor to do freestyle dancing. Later, I saw her doing the Electric Slide.
Ward and Barnes attend the Martin Luther King Senior Center in Franklin. That center and the senior center in Zuni were attending the event as guests of the Suffolk Senior Center. Ward said that she has been dancing all her life and that she had just received her GED last year. “You’re never too old to learn, you know,” she said.
I am also glad to now know another thing: You are never too old to dance.
Lena Morgan, 92, attends the Suffolk Senior Center Monday through Friday to play games and to eat lunch. When DJs asked seniors to form lines facing each other and go down those lines soul train style to Marvin Gaye’s hit tune, “Got To Give It Up,” Morgan strutted down with her partner, Margaret Walton.
I also attended a party for the Booker T. Washington High School class of 1956, held in the home of Nell and Clarence Johnson in Lake Forest.
Committee members who planned the 50th reunion in 2006 said they owed themselves something, so they decided to meet every three months for lunch. This year, the third month fell in December, so members decided to have a Christmas party instead of the usual lunch.
During the party, a delicious dinner was served, and there was dancing to your heart’s content. The highlight of dancing included the Limbo, in which participants were asked, “How low can you go?” to the tune of “It’s a Calypso,” by Arrow.
As long as these seniors continue to let their good times roll, I can assure you that they may grow old in body but definitely will never grow old in spirit.