HILL CITY ? Couples glide across the floor, effortlessly in sync with the Vaughn Bolton Orchestra.

Ramona Herman’s blue dress flares as her husband, Sunny, twirls her around the dance floor to polkas, two-steps and waltzes.

“It keeps you young,” 68-year-old Ramona Herman said. “The more you dance, the more exercise you get. It also makes us happier because we both like to dance.”

The couple traveled from their home in Hays to the Bison Club in Hill City for a dance down memory lane with the Big Band Dance Club.

Music from the nine-piece orchestra envelops the dancers as they waltz in a counterclockwise direction around the lightly sanded floor.

Maxine McClelland watches the dancers with a smile during the dance. She remembers organizing the dance club around the kitchen table more than 20 years ago.

“We went to Utica, Neb., for a dance, and that’s a long way to go, plus it takes the entire weekend,” she said. “We got to talking about it and thought we could bring it closer to home.”

So the Hoxie resident banded together with three other couples from the area and put together the Half Fast Dance Club. The name changed several times and is currently The Big Band Dance Club.

In the beginning, the club was so popular that membership was limited to 90 or 100 couples, she said.

Now, the dances are lucky to draw half that many, averaging 35 couples per dance, event organizer Russ Pennington said.

Dancers are admitted to the club at the invitation of a member or by becoming a member. Yearly memberships are $175 per couple or half that for a single member. Membership fees are collected to cover the cost of the orchestra, with the price fluctuating depending on the number of members (40 couples currently). The more members, the less the memberships cost.

The club does receive support from the First State Bank in Hill City. Tickets to the dances are given to people in the Golden Passport Club who are 55 or older as a thank-you from the bank.

But the search remains ongoing for new members.

“I grew up dancing that way and so did my wife. We’re in our late 50s. By the time we’re as old as these people, there won’t be that type of dancing available any more. So this helps keep it alive,” said Dexter Potter, senior vice president at First State Bank.

“After 21 years, you fizzle out,” said McClelland, who is now 82. “We have to have some young people come.”

Just down the table, one of the few young couples in attendance takes a breather.

D.J. and Amanda Rasner, 25 and 26 respectively, comfortably converse with senior dancers. The couple returns for a second time from Ellis, where D.J. is an intern at St. John Lutheran Church.

“We really like to dance,” Amanda Rasner said. “The only avenue for that is typically a wedding reception, and the music is usually different because it’s a DJ.”

Rounding up young couples for an evening of Big Band dancing is not as easy as it sounds, Pennington said.

“For people under 40 years old, pairs dancing is obsolete,” he said. “This is couple dancing, and they don’t think they can learn to dance this way. It’s heartbreaking.”

Pennington said live music is a must at the dances. He books orchestras from Denver, Lincoln, Neb., Manhattan and Hays. The live orchestra creates an atmosphere and gives the couples a glimpse into the Golden Era of music.

“We don’t have a lot of opportunity to dance to this type of music,” D.J. Rasner said. “We’re still learning. This is a different type of dancing than the stuff on the radio like hip-hop and pop.”

The music provides a dance down memory lane for many members, while at the same time provides an opportunity to meet other dance-minded individuals.

For the past two years, 70-year-old Ken Breeden and his wife, Shirley, traveled 32 miles from Stockton for the festivities.

“We all grew up with this kind of music,” he said. “It’s a different pace for the older people, and they like it better. I’ve been dancing all my life.”

Age is catching up with many on the dance floor, though.

“I used to polka, but it’s pretty hard for me to keep up because I’m just getting old,” said 83-year-old Allen Neal, Hoxie. “I’m slowing down, but I come out to socialize and be with people.”

The social gatherings happen eight times a year – never in the summer because it’s too hot.

“We only dance during the winter months,” Pennington said. “We can’t get farmers out of the field, so the last dance is June 4 for this season.”

For more information about joining the Big Band Dance club, contact Russ Pennington at (785) 421-5457.