Square dancing classes in full swing
Just six people were on hand Monday night for the first square dancing class of the year, but Marcene Gunter hopes that many more will turn out.
Beginning this week and going through next March, square dancing classes will be offered every Monday night from 8 to 10 p.m. at the Hillsboro Elementary School gym.
Gunter and her husband, Charlie, who live in Hillsboro, have been instrumental in organizing the class. This is the second year that Hillsboro has had a class.
The dances are run by veteran square dance caller Allen Hahn, who lives in Hesston.
The Gunters have been square dancing for at least 10 years, they said. They're members of the Shoe Scuffers, a square-dancing club based in Hesston.
The Shoe Scuffers have about 35 members, and they have regular dances twice a month at least nine months of the year, Gunter said.
But now, the Gunters want to bring their enthusiasm for square dancing to the Hillsboro area
There are lots of reasons to square dance — it's good exercise, a good way to meet people, and just good clean fun, Gunter said.
You don't need any experience, since the classes are for beginners, she said.
The first three lessons are free of charge. After that, the dancers "get down to serious business," Gunter said. The fee after the first three classes is $50 for the rest.
Hahn, the instructor, got interested in square dancing as a college student at K-State, he said. That was 1967.
In college, he met his wife, Marcia, and the two joined a square dancing club at school. By his senior year, Hahn was calling dances.
Hahn is the founder of the Hesston Shoe Scuffers. He also offers beginning lessons in the Hesston area, he said.
According to Gunter, square dancing clubs are everywhere, at least 30 in the Wichita area alone.
She'd like to have enough participants in Hillsboro to form two squares of eight people each.
"If we can get more than that, that's super-good," Gunter said.
