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Jitterbugging away in Jamaica Plain

E-mail|Link|Comments () May 27, 2009 04:28 PM

(Joanne Rathe/Globe Staff)

Rose Gisone of Roslindale, who said she was "over 80," was one of the dancers at the event.

By Martin Finucane, Globe Staff

They jitterbugged, they did the boot scootin' boogie, the salsa, and the YMCA. They twirled and they swayed. Their hairs were gray, but the music made the years fade away.

Scores of seniors gathered today at the Our Lady of Lourdes Parish Center in Jamaica Plain for coffee and cake and to cut a rug at the 4th Annual 50s and 60s Sock Hop Senior Prom, which was part of SeniorPalooza, a series of events held in Boston every May for the elderly and disabled.

Ethel Cook, 86, of West Roxbury, was among the dozens on the dance floor because she loves to dance. "I love it. It keeps me going. I even had a knee replacement a year ago and was able to get back to the floor," she said.

"I have the greatest elation, the best feeling ever. It keeps you healthy. It gets you up in the morning to want to go," said Cook, who took up dancing later in life.

Richard Fallona, 80, a retired Fire Department employee from West Roxbury, was also a dance floor diehard.

"It's a chance to get out with people and do things," he said.

Bernie O'Connor, 80, a retired firefighter from West Roxbury, and a friend, Mary Citrone, 79, jitterbugged as a medley of big band songs was kicked off by Glenn Miller's "In the Mood." O'Connor said he could remember dancing at Moseley's in Dedham around 1950. Citrone was worried because she was a ringer from Norwood.

Cook missed the last dance because she was being interviewed. "I've had enough" she said. "I could keep on going really -- but I have to pace myself a little."