Bonnie Henry: Staying young, one square step at a time

If you want to stay young forever, try a little allemande left and do-si-do.

As in square dancing.

Don't believe me? You will after you meet Bill and Maybelle Towner. He's 87, she's 86. Married 66 years. Two kids, a passel of grandkids and great-grandkids — more than they can count.

And they can "pass the ocean" and "relay the deucey" with the best of 'em.

"It keeps your mind and body active," says Bill, about the intricate square-dance steps he and Maybelle do as members of the Swinging Saguaros.

I'll say.

On a recent Thursday night, they and dozens of other dancers twirled and bowed and stepped ever so lightly to the calls of veteran caller Dave Walker at an East Side church.

Maybelle sashayed around in a raspberry-hued blouse and ruffled skirt with matching frilly "petti-pants," while Bill kept up wearing a raspberry shirt and bolo tie.

"I try to match her with a shirt," says Bill, whose wife's closets are crammed with dozens of ruffled skirts and blouses and boxes of dancing shoes, all neatly stacked and labeled.

"I like to get dressed up," she says.

Besides their Thursday night dances, you'll find the Towners square dancing and round dancing every Sunday night at the Voyager RV Resort, near Interstate 10 and South Kolb Road.

Oh yeah, they also do a little line dancing now and then, as well as ballroom dancing.

"Many years ago we taught our boys how to do the cha-cha," says an auburn-haired Maybelle.

Originally from New York state, the couple made a corporate move to Tucson in 1978 when IBM rolled into town. Bill retired in 1984.

But it would be 1990 before the couple got into square dancing, taking beginners' lessons at Udall Park.

This was dancing like they'd never done before.

"We had to listen," says Maybelle.

And listen they did, right through that first set of lessons, and then through another 26 weeks of more advanced lessons.

Demographics being what they are — the average age of the dancers in their group seems to hover around 60-plus — women sometimes have to take the part of the male dancers.

"When I see one coming toward me, I say, 'Are you a man or a woman?' " says Bill.

Meanwhile, at the church dances, says Maybelle, "Some of the ladies don't have husbands. I let Bill dance with them. I sit there. I don't mind a bit."

Both she and Bill also act as "angels," helping the less-adept master the steps.

"I do love to do the steps correctly," says Maybelle, who is stepping out this night in white, fringed go-go boots and a grin that just won't quit.

Asked what their friends say about all this swirling and twirling, Maybelle answers, "They don't ask us 'why,' they ask us 'how.' They say, "Where do you get your energy? How do you keep going all night long?' "

One do-si-do at a time, I'd say.