Gene Record has them right where he wants 'em.

        Forty-eight people — in six groups of eight — are following every cue from the 75-year-old square dance caller.

About 40 people each Monday take square dance lessons from Gene Record at Covingtonšs Promenade Palace. (Steven M. Herppich photos) | ZOOM |

        Against a backdrop of bouncy country music, Mr. Record's voice is a steady patter, like rain on leaves.

        “Pass thru ... star thru ... California twirl ... slide thru ... swing.”

        The square dancers, many of retirement age or older, swing and twirl and whirl and weave on the pine wood floor at Covington's Promenade Palace. It's a relaxed, casual atmosphere. Standoffishness is as out of place as cigarettes and alcohol.

        “Friendliest bunch of people I've ever met,” says 39-year-old Cindy Stamper of Florence, who's here this Monday evening with her husband, Eddie. “It's like family, in a way.”

        This “family” likes to kick up its heels.

        “It is so fun,” Veida Wasserman of Hyde Park says between dances. She's 56, looks much younger, and smiles non-stop on the dance floor.

        Since September, she and her husband, Mark, have been taking lessons offered by Beechmont Squares, an Anderson Township square dancing club. With their caller away for the summer, the Beechmont group hooks up on Monday evenings with the Kentucky Kuzzins. a club based at Promenade Palace.

Dick Hallgarth of Dillsboro takes Kitty Hensgen of Anderson Township for a spin on the Promenade Palace dance floor. | ZOOM |

        The Wassermans, ballroom dancers for several years, were pleasantly surprised by square dancing's emphasis on fellowship.

        “The minute (square dancers) see a stranger's face in the room, they come over to introduce themselves,” Ms. Wasserman says.

        She and her husband have become fast friends with three other couples. They plan to go on a square dancing riverboat cruise together and spend a weekend dancing in Indiana.

        “As people get older, over 50, they're much more positive in their attitude when they meet people,” says Mr. Wasserman, a 57-year-old attorney. “There's not any competition. Everybody's been through the mill and raised kids, and are thankful to have a nice evening with pleasant people in a safe, comfortable place.”

        Cavernous also aptly describes Promenade Palace in Covington's Latonia neighborhood. At various times the structure has been a bowling alley, a supermarket and a furniture store, Mr. Record says. About 20 years ago, a group of square dancers bought the building, which now holds dances three to four times a week.

Al Miller of Anderson Township takes a breather from the dance action. | ZOOM |

        “It's a great place to leave day-to-day activities behind,” says Rick Allgeier, the hall coordinator and member of the Vagabonds, a square dance club that goes camping once a month. “You have to concentrate on (square dancing). Therefore, the rest of the world disappears.”

        That can be a good thing. Just ask Sayler Park residents Lonnie and Peggy Abney, who joined Kentucky Kuzzins four years ago “because of how they made us feel the first time we came,” says Mrs. Abney.

        Then two years ago, on her 53rd birthday, Mrs. Abney was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer. She endured four months of chemotherapy, followed by removal of both breasts, then radiation therapy.

        Through it all, the Abneys rarely missed a week of square dancing.

        “These people were like brothers and sisters to me,” Mrs. Abney says. “They would come and tell me they were praying for me. They were constantly checking on my husband and me, making sure we were doing OK.

        “If I needed to talk to someone, all I had to do was pick up the phone. If I would have told them I needed them, they would have come. They're just a terrific group of people.”

        On Monday nights, the Abneys serve as “angels” — experienced square dancers who mingle with beginners, helping them learn the basics.

        It helps, too, to have a caller as patient as Mr. Record.

        He likes to see dancers dress up in petticoats and western attire, but summer T-shirts and shorts are the norm. On the front of his bright blue T-shirt are the words: “Add quality to your life ... ” On the back: “Learn to square dance.”

        He retired 14 years ago as administrator of the Kentucky State Barber Board, but keeps busy calling dances 19 times a month. He and his wife, Ginny, who live in Highland Heights, also organize overseas square dancing tours.

        “Let's do this again,” he's telling the dancers after they flub a sequence. “We got in trouble with this last week. Don't think bad about it because a lot of people have trouble with this call.”

        Then, with his variable-speed compact disc player silent, he slowly talks them through it:

        “Boys run around the girl. Half tag. Now when I add the call to trade, and then add the call to roll, remember the trade. You must complete the full trade and then drop your hands and turn a quarter more in the direction your body's flowing.”

        Sounds complicated, especially to a newcomer. But a few moments later, standing on a riser and calling into a microphone, Mr. Record watches the dancers make the right moves.

        With beginners expected to learn about 70 square dancing calls, a clear mind is key.

        Which is why a square dancing Web site, www.dosado.com, advises: “Any type of alcoholic drink is neither necessary to your mastery of square dancing nor conducive to your grace or agility. Square dancing itself will soon relax you.”

        At Promenade Palace, which draws as wholesome a bunch as any venue, drinking and smoking are prohibited.

        Dosado.com also weighs in on personal hygiene: “The use of deodorants will assure you of being invited back. Avoid eating garlic or other offenders before attending a dance.”

        Garlic breath isn't what kept Al Lawrence from square dancing. “I just didn't want to do it,” he says.

        But his wife, Wanda, did.

        The Mount Carmel couple has been married for 49 years. Theirs is a typical story. She says: Let's learn to square dance. He says: Uh, yeah, maybe ... sometime.

        “I tried for years to get him to go,” Mrs. Lawrence says. Finally, five years ago she took lessons without him. A couple of years later, he caved in and joined her.

        “I found it's so fun,” says Mr. Lawrence, a retired warehouse foreman. “Lot of fun. You meet a lot of good people.”

        Mixed among the married couples is a smattering of singles, including John Burke.

        At 86, he is probably the oldest dancer at Promenade Palace this night. The retired machinist was in his 70s when he took up square dancing several years after the death of his wife. He now comes with his daughter, Kathy Rosenzweig.

        On the dance floor, Mr. Burke swings and whirls with the best of them. But it's the people he enjoys most. “You don't get no cussin', and they're always congenial. You get a lot of hugs.

        “More people should square dance,” he says before heading back onto the floor. “There'd be a lot less trouble in this world.”

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