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The Time Of Their Lives

Scott Iskowitz/The Tampa Tribune

Rose Dupree,left dances with Jack Imppolito at the Senior Citizens Dance at the Lightfoot Recreation Center in Temple Terrace Thursday afternoon.

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By JOYCE McKENZIE, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 5, 2007

Updated: 12/03/2007 06:44 pm

TEMPLE TERRACE - Seventy-nine-year-old Gloria Olstrom considers herself to be at "the top of the totem pole."

Her children are grown, she's retired, and she's able to come and go when she wants and do exactly as she pleases.

Much of her time is spent at the Omar K. Lightfoot Recreation Center, where she chairs the Lightfooters Social Club, a group that meets regularly for breakfast, planned outings and monthly afternoon dances for seniors.

"It's nice to keep busy in our senior years, and it's a lot of fun," Olstrom said. "The dances are really fun, and it's the best exercise we can get."

The music of Tommy Evans, the featured keyboardist at the two-hour dance Thursday, featured sounds from the big-band era such as "In the Mood" and "Tennessee Waltz," with a few holiday tunes included in the mix.

"These songs bring back a lot of memories," said widower and marathon runner Emery Jewell, 82, of Westchase, who was there with his good friend and dance partner, Jan Fleming of Carrollwood. They met by way of his twin sister, Fleming's sorority sister, following the death of his wife a few years ago.

Fleming said she read about the center's dances in The Tampa Tribune.

"We've been coming for about a year, and we've even taken dance lessons," Jewell said.

Temple Terrace residents and close companions Jack Ippolito and Rosie Dupree, who both have enjoyed dancing since their teenage years, hardly ever miss the dances. Unable to drive, they generally rely on Lightfoot's senior services leader, Kelly Ahearn, to transport them back and forth from their homes in a van provided by the city's parks and recreation department.

"I used to get on top of my older brother's shoes when I was a little boy, and that's how I learned to dance," Ippolito said.

Doris Walker, who makes it a priority to attend the dances with her husband, Otto, to whom she's been married close to 50 years, finds the setting especially nostalgic.

"Our children used to come here for gymnastics and banquets, and it still sometimes seems kind of strange for us to be here dancing," said Doris Walker, who, with her husband, has lived in their Temple Terrace home since 1965.

Peggy Evans, the wife of the keyboardist who entertained the gathering of some 20 attendees, said he began playing the piano in his native town of Nottingham, England, at the age of 9. He doesn't read music but instead buys recordings and plays them over and over until he commits them to memory.

"Tom loves to play, and he makes his own CDs he sends to his musical friends," his wife said.

Another dance will be scheduled for January, but the date has not been determined.

For details, call Ahearn at (813) 989-7183.

Reporter Joyce McKenzie can be reached at (813) 865-4849 or jmckenzie@tampatrib.com.

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