MASSENA - Organizers of a monthly dance at the Massena Community Center, 61 Beach St., would like to see more people strutting their moves on the dance floor.

The dances, now in their third year, are held from 6 to 10 p.m. the second Saturday of the month except during July and August when they go on break, and Chairperson Linda Brunelle says they’re always looking for some new dancers to join the crowd.

“Attendance is down. We’re looking for a big increase in attendance,” she said, attributing some of it to the winter weather that’s keeping many folks nestled in their homes and others who have traveled to a warmer climate for the season.

“That has a lot to do with it,” she said.

Their lowest number has been 25 participants, and their average is 55 people, “which is still way down,” Ms. Brunelle said.

Music is provided by the Oshier Country Band, and the dances, which are sponsored by the Massena Senior Citizens, Inc. are open to everyone, young and old.

“We’ve had young people come in. There’s a young person that plays in the band. We’d love to see a diversity in the ages,” she said.

Some of the dancers are 90 years old and are regulars, Ms. Brunelle said.

“They’ve always supported us. There’s always a core group of people that go,” she said. “We really work to try and get a crowd there. Once they’re there, it’s ‘thank you, thank you’ all the time.”

Dancers will find a large handicap accessible community room that she said is “decorated to the hilt.”

“We put candles on the table and decorate. It’s a lot of work,” Ms. Brunelle said.

The room is also just the right size to accommodate plenty of dancers on the floor.

“You’ll never feel crowded on or off the dance floor,” she said.

Those who attend can expect different types of dancing, including line dancing during the intermission so there’s no lull when the band takes a break and square dancing if that’s what the crowd wants. There might even be a dance contest, karaoke or a performance by washboard and spoon players.

“They invite people up to do different things. They accommodate everyone and just play along,” she said.

But they’re more than just about dancing though. Ms. Brunelle said she invites folks to come early and play cards or shuffleboard, or just visit with others. Food is also available, including fried bread dough, hot dogs, French fries or cold beverages for $1. Hot coffee, hot chocolate and tea are also available for 50 cents.

“Where can you go get a fried bread dough for a buck, and it fills your plate,” she said.

The cover charge is $4.

“It’s not designed to be a money maker. The cover charge all goes to the band, so we don’t take any of that. We just had to increase it with the numbers dwindling,” Ms. Brunelle said.

The next dance is scheduled for tonight.

For more information, call Linda and Brian Brunelle at 600-1279 or committee members Carol LaDue at 764-5919, Peggy Pellegrino at 769-3777 or Bob Page at 769-0540.

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