It’s obvious as soon as you step into the Richland Community Center where the dancing is: just follow the music down the hallway.

In the Riverview room, couples swayed throughout the room while a saxophone crooned.

Richland Seniors Association’s monthly dances are a crowd pleaser, bringing out skilled and unskilled dancers alike, and those who want to listen to the live band.

But with dwindling attendance, the dances may not be able to continue.

RSA’s dances rely on its attendees, who pay $10 admission, and occasional sponsors. It costs about $100 each month to provide refreshments – from coffee and lemonade to sandwiches and fruit.

Live music is one of the highlights of the Richland Seniors Association’s monthly dances. Above is Gary Danielson and the Riverside Five, featuring Gary Danielson on saxophone and clarinet, Steve Haberman on piano, Sid Gire on bass, Jimi Beeler on guitar and Jerry Larson on drums.

| Photo by Nathan Finke

‘Band is fantastic’

The group also pays for a band, and the live music is what makes the dances special.

“If we were using recorded music … I don’t think we would have this group here,” said Fred Shaffner, dance coordinator and one of RSA’s board members.

The band, Gary Danielson and the Riverside Five, features Gary Danielson on saxophone and clarinet, Steve Haberman on piano, Sid Gire on bass, Jimi Beeler on guitar and Jerry Larson on drums. They play everything from waltz to cha-cha, and easy swing to foxtrot. Shaffner said they’ll even do line dancing music if requested.

“This band is fantastic,” said Mary Cooke of Richland, noting that they don’t play anything too difficult to dance to.

And RSA’s dance is one of the few dances in the region offering live music, said Dottie Luglan of Prosser. Her husband Leif Luglan said they play “our music, you know, older music.”

It’s hard to just sit still while listening. “The music makes me want to move,” Shaffner said. Though he usually helps prepare refreshments in the kitchen, he took to the floor a few times during the January dance. 

Attendees at the Richland Seniors Association’s monthly dances are welcome to dance in any way they can or want to, whether that’s waltzing or line dancing. Barbara and Keith Noel take a dip on the dance floor.

| Courtesy Gordon Photos

Dances on the decline

The dances have been held for “forever,” or practically, Shaffner said. He’s been coordinating them for two years, and someone else had been coordinating them for five years before him. 

Shaffner isn’t sure how long the dances ran before then, but some of the dancers can attest to many years of RSA dances. Dottie Luglan has been coming to the dances for 30 years, and Judy Bircher of Richland said she’d been dancing at them for 20.

Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, the dances would welcome up to 60 people, Shaffner said. All the tables at the back of the room used to be full, Candy Wright of Kennewick recalled, and there were even extra tables on the other side of the dance floor.

She said some of the regular attendees were lost to Covid-19, and some simply stopped going out.

Now, getting to 40 is a good number, Shaffner said. The number of attendees has been low this year, with about 22 people coming to the dance in September. Leif Luglan remembered a dance when only two couples showed up.

It takes about 30 paid attendees just to cover the band, according to Shaffner. He works to get sponsorships for the refreshments when he can and manages to get about half of the dances in a year sponsored by senior living homes, other organizations and even individuals. 

With the membership decreasing, Shaffner eliminated the $15 nonmember price, so both RSA members and nonmembers pay $10 to attend. He’s also worked to get the word out in the association’s newsletters. The Senior Times also lists the dances each month in its roundup of senior activities.

Shaffner said they’d like to have a lot more members. One of the dancers, Jim Norton of Kennewick, said he’d like to see a younger crowd going to the dances.

Welcome to all

The Richland Seniors Association welcomes any senior in the Tri-Cities, despite the group’s name.

The association investigated changing its name, but “it just became a humongous project,” Shaffner said. 

The monthly dances also welcome all and though the focus is on seniors, Shaffner said anyone over the age of 21 who is willing to pay the entry fee is welcome.

No dancing experience is required, either. Shaffner, along with others who frequent the dances, is a ballroom dance instructor who is happy to help out newer dancers. He also teaches clogging at Kennewick Dance Connection. 

Some dancers spin, others dance in a line on one end of the dance floor.

“They’re still out there dancing and trying, and that’s so important,” Shaffner said. 

Part of RSA’s goal is to get seniors moving and out of their homes, he said. The dancing is active and social, and people can even come just to listen to the band.

Everyone’s welcome. Couples hit the floor in dresses and heels, or jeans and sneakers.

Aside from a love for live music and gliding across the floor, several of the dancers said they also appreciate that the dances are held early in the day. Starting at 1 p.m. means that even in the winter, attendees won’t have to drive home in the dark or stay out too late.

Bircher and Norton also love the views while dancing. With the room’s wide windows opening onto Howard Amon Park and the Columbia River, it “feels like dancing in the park,” Bircher said. 

But perhaps most importantly, it’s a great opportunity to be social. Tables take up half of the room, and while taking breaks between dances, attendees sip coffee and lemonade and chat.

Norton said the dance community is very good, and that many people there met through dancing. It’s how he met Bircher, too.

Though attendees might show up in couples, it’s a social dance, said George Cooke of Richland – people can dance with anyone.

And if someone asks you to dance? “You don’t say no,” Shaffner said.