April 2012 Forever Young Lifestyle Magazine

Inside

Shall WeDance?

InsidePlant Roots With The Garden Club

A Visit To Family Dentist Of PB

Howard Marlow Wants You To Waltz

Fred Astaire Dance Studio In WPB

Shall WeDance?

Shall WeDance?

Plant Roots With The Garden ClubPlant Roots With The Garden Club

A Visit To Family Dentist Of PBA Visit To Family Dentist Of PB

Howard Marlow Wants You To WaltzHoward Marlow Wants You To Waltz

Fred Astaire Dance Studio In WPBFred Astaire Dance Studio In WPB

FOREVER YOUNGFOREVER YOUNGLifestyle Magazine Celebra t ing the 50-Plus Communi ty o f the Pa lm Beaches

A Town-Crier Publication

April 2012Lifestyle Magazine

Dr. Manoj Patel,DDS & Dr. Sunita Sirivolu, DMD

Royal Palm Beach

561-795-766811903 Southern Blvd. Ste #116

Royal Palm Beach, FL 33411

Lake Worth

561-582-1911225 S. Federal Highway

Lake Worth, FL 33460

Visit us online at www.familydentistpalmbeach.com

This special offer valid until 5/31/12 so call NOW!

Let the gentle dentists and friendly staff at

Family Dentist of Palm Beach make your smile forever young!• Full-range of General,Cosmetic & Implant services

• Emergencies seen immediately

• Personalized care

• Most insurance and credit cards accepted

• 0% Financing available with approved credit

April 2012 • Forever Young Lifestyle Magazine •

• Forever Young Lifestyle Magazine • April 2012


CONTENTSYOUR GUIDE TO THIS MONTH’S ISSUE

APRIL 2012Published as a supplement to the

April 6, 2012 edition of the Town-Crier

PublisherBarry S. Manning

Executive EditorJoshua I. Manning

Associate PublisherDawn Rivera

Project EditorChris Felker

Senior EditorsJason Budjinski

Ron Bukley

Art & Production ManagerStephanie Rodriguez

BookkeepingCarol Lieberman

Account ManagersBetty Buglio

Evie EdwardsWanda Glockson

ContributorsDenise Fleischman

Jessica GregoireLauren MiróJoe Nasuti

Abner PedrazaDeborah Welky

Forever Young Lifestyle Magazineis published by

Newspaper Publishers Inc.12794 W. Forest Hill Blvd., Suite 31

Wellington, FL 33414Phone: (561) 793-7606

Fax: (561) 793-1470www.foreveryounglifestylemagazine.com

Forever Young Lifestyle Magazine is publishedmonthly as a supplement to the Town-Crier news-paper. Copyright 2012, all rights reserved byNewspaper Publishers Inc. Contents may notbe reproduced in any form without the writtenconsent of the publisher. The publisher reservesthe right to refuse advertising. The publisheraccepts no responsibility for advertisementerrors beyond the cost of the portion of theadvertisement occupied by the error within theadvertisement itself. The publisher accepts noresponsibility for submitted materials. All sub-mitted materials subject to editing.

6Garden Club: Outlet For Those Who Love PlantsWellington Garden Club President Susan Hillson haslearned a lot about keeping gardens over the past 20years, dividing her attention between summer plant-ings in Maine and her winter garden here. The clubemphasizes member education.

BY JESSICA GREGOIRE

10Proper Dental Care Is Very Important As You AgeRegular dental visits are important for people as theyage, say the doctors of Family Dentist of Palm Beach,with offices in Royal Palm Beach and Lake Worth.Dental care can both enhance quality of life and pro-tect general overall health. BY JESSICA GREGOIRE

17Ballroom Dancing Again Gaining In PopularityTV shows such as Dancing with the Stars and Amer-ican Ballroom Challenge have been driving a newgeneration into dance. We visit the local Fred AstaireDance Studio location, and also learn how the studiobrought together a unique dance couple with very dif-ferent motivations. BY CHRIS FELKER

22Howard Marlow Enjoys Waltzing Through LifeHoward Marlow is 82, but you'd never be able to tell.He stays in shape by dancing, which he's been doing— and teaching — since high school. You can learnfrom him at adult classes in local schools, or set up adate for a private dance lesson. BY DEBORAH WELKY

On The CoverJoyce Shepherd of the Original Florida Follies. Learn More on Page 24

PHOTO BY ABNER PEDRAZA/FYLM STAFF

‘Celebrating the 50-PlusCommunity of the Palm Beaches’

Columns‘Would You Like To Dance?’ Memories From My ‘Bandstand’ Youth

MEMORY LANE BY JOE NASUTI, PAGE 25

Discovering My High School Yearbook Sent Me On A Trip Back In TimeSENIOR MOMENTS BY DEBORAH WELKY, PAGE 26


ENJOYING THE BEST season eachstate has to offer, Wellington GardenClub President Susan Hillson dividesher time between her homes in Flori-da and Maine. With immaculatelywell-kept gardens in both locations,Hillson feeds her passion for plants.

A former senior director of engineer-ing, Hillson built database software forOracle in Boston. Gardening was anescape from the highly competitive andtechnical career. “I worked a lot ofhours in that job,” she recalled. “With60-hour workweeks, it was very in-tense.”

In 1992, Hillson joined her first lo-cal garden club in Massachusetts. Itwas an opportunity to meet other peo-ple who liked to garden and de-stressfrom their work life. “I had an interestin gardening, and I wanted to knowmore about it,” she said.

After years of working in a highlydemanding career, Hillson retired, andit was her liberation. It gave her thechance to take her love of gardeningto new heights. Hillson took a mastergardening course and received her cer-tificate. “I took the course in Massa-chusetts, and it was an intense course,”she said. “But it was worth it becauseI learned a lot about gardening.”

Hillson feels at peace in gardens. “InMaine, I have a big organic vegetablegarden,” she said. “I like to grow myown vegetables.”

The Maine garden took time to per-fect — and her gardening studieshelped a great deal. “After I took themaster gardening course, I learned how

Some edible items in Hillson’s Flor-ida garden include tomatoes, Swisschard, lettuce and herbs. “I grow ev-erything here in containers,” she said,“mostly because I don’t have enoughspace.”

The Wellington Garden Club is aplace for Hillson and her fellow mem-bers to learn about gardening in Flori-da. It’s also a place for members tosocialize with an interesting and eclec-tic group of people, all of whom havea love for gardening.

The club was founded in 1981 withthe purpose of reaching out to the com-munity through gardening. A year af-ter its founding, the club became partof the Florida Federation of GardenClubs, which is part of the Deep SouthRegion of the National Garden Clubs.

“Our motto is, ‘Gardening makes aworld of difference,’” said Twig Mor-ris, the Wellington Garden Club’s firstvice president.

The club seeks to educate and informits members by having guest speakersattend its monthly meetings, general-ly held the first Monday of the month.“We have highly educated people, whoknow about various forms of garden-ing, come in and give presentations toour members,” Morris said.

Many of the members, like Hillson,are originally from out of state andwant to learn how to effectively gar-den in Florida. “We have many trans-plants,” Morris said. “We all arriveddown here and said, ‘Hey, how do yougarden down here?’ so we emphasizemember education.”

Wellington Garden Club Offers AnOutlet For Those Who Love Plants

to do everything by the book,” she said.“I found a space that had full sun, Ibuilt raised beds, I amended the soil,and I did everything the correct way.”

After her first year of gardening thatway, Hillson saw tremendous results.“I had 150 zucchinis. The dog was eat-ing zucchini; the neighbors were eat-ing zucchini,” she recalled.

Overwhelmed with zucchini, Hillsonfound a solution for the excess vege-tables she was growing. “I found a pro-gram called Plant a Row for the Hun-gry, and I started bringing all my left-over vegetables to the soup kitchen,”she said.

Born in Elmira, N.Y., Hillson and herhusband of 28 years, Max, lived inNew England for decades. Tired ofspending their winter months in Maine,they decided to buy a home in Well-ington several years ago. It was a gold-en opportunity for Hillson to gardenin the winter, but gardening in Floridaand gardening in Maine are complete-ly different. Learning how to tendplants in her gated Florida communityis what prompted Hillson to join theWellington Garden Club. “In my Flor-ida garden, I have learned to grow trop-ical plants,” she said.

With help from fellow garden clubmembers, Hillson has turned her zero-lot-line property into a gardener’sdream. “I have planted 25 trees in thatspace, including palms,” she said. “Ihave a variety of different palm treesI’m growing, such as bromeliads andothers that don’t require a lot of careor water.”

BY JESSICA GREGOIRE | Forever Young Staff Report

FOREVER YOUNG PROFILE

With help from fellow garden club members, Hillson has turned her property into a gardener’sdream. ‘I have planted 25 trees in that space, including palms,’ she said. ‘I have a variety of

different palm trees I’m growing, such as bromeliads, that don’t require a lot of care or water.’


Wellington Garden Club First Vice President Twig Morris and President Susan Hillson.PHOTO BY JESSICA GREGOIRE/FYLM STAFF

Members have a variety of activitiesavailable to them. “We have a lot offun things that we do called round-abouts,” Morris said, “where we goand visit native plant nurseries in thearea, so we can learn about nativeplants for our own gardens.”

With 160 members and counting, theclub focuses on giving back to thecommunity through civic involvement.The club also gives academic scholar-

ships to local high school and PalmBeach State College horticulture stu-dents. “We are a nonprofit organiza-tion,” Morris said, “so we do a lot offundraising to support our scholarshipfund.”

The scholarship fund is a major partof the Wellington Garden Club’s phil-anthropic efforts. “We work with lo-cal schools and colleges to select theright candidates,” Morris said, “and we

award these scholarships once a year,in the spring.”

The club also awards scholarshipsfor students to go to the Florida Feder-ation of Garden Clubs and the FloridaPark Service youth camp, in Apopka,near Orlando. “The camp is open tochildren from third grade to eighthgrade, and it’s a one-week stay,” Mor-ris said. “The kids love it because theyget to learn about nature and the envi-


FY

FOREVER YOUNG PROFILEronment, by going camping, canoeing and hiking in thestate forest.”

The Wellington Garden Club’s purpose focuses on in-creasing quality of life by creating beautiful gardensthroughout the community. Members are able to volunteer

and provide their gardening skills for those less fortunate.“We plant gardens for Habitat for Humanity homes, andwe just did one for a family in Lake Worth,” Morris said.“We have also maintained the garden at the WellingtonCommunity Center for many years.”

The Wellington Garden Club is open to anyone; you don’thave to be from Wellington to become a member. “We’reopen to anyone interested in gardening, plants, floral de-sign and even just someone looking to socialize,” Morrissaid. “We are a group of congenial people, primarily wom-en, but we do have some men and encourage men to join.”

As current president of the club, Hillson hopes to sustainas well as continue to grow all the programs and activitiesthe club offers. “We are trying to focus more on floral de-sign,” she said. “I’m studying to be a flower show judge,and this year we will be holding floral design workshops.”

The next club event will be its “Secret Gardens of Well-ington” garden tour on Saturday, April 14. “We have cho-sen six gardens around Wellington that are going to be opento the public that day,” Twig said. “That will be our biggestfundraiser, and the funds raised will carry us for the nexttwo years for all the things we do in the community, fromthe scholarships to Habitat for Humanity.”

For more info., visit www.wellingtongardenclub.org.

Susan Hillson at one of the manyWellington Garden Club project sites.

PHOTO BY JESSICA GREGOIRE/FYLM STAFF


GOING TO THE DENTIST is not onlyabout having that perfect smile; it’sabout sustaining your overall health.Healthy teeth mean a healthier andhappier life, and it all starts with thegums, according to Dr. Manoj Pateland Dr. Sunitha Sirivolu of FamilyDentist of Palm Beach.

No matter your age, taking care ofyour teeth is extremely important. “It’snot the age that counts, it’s the well-being,” Sirivolu said.

And it’s her goal to make sure se-niors have teeth that make them lookand feel their best.

Family Dentist of Palm Beach hasbeen providing quality dentistry in thecommunity since 2003, with locations

crucial. “I have a 95-year-old patient,and she is very active and loves to goout, and she feels depressed when shestays at home,” Sirivolu said. “She toldme that she has to have her teeth ingood condition, so do whatever I canso that she could go out to eat withfriends and not be embarrassed.”

Many Family Dentist patients areseniors, especially now with the num-ber of Baby Boomers reaching theirgolden years. These seniors have ma-jor concerns when it comes to their oralhealth. “Many have issues with gumdisease and missing teeth,” Sirivolusaid.

These issues relate to overall gener-al health problems, which are more

Family Dentist Of P.B. Helps PatientsWith Proper Dental Care As They Age

in Lake Worth and Royal Palm Beach.Dr. Patel works out of the Lake Worthoffice, while Dr. Sirivolu is at the Roy-al Palm Beach location.

Many of Sirivolu’s older patientsbelieve that oral care is not necessaryat their age, but she is quick to informthem about the dangers of not takingproper care of their teeth as they getolder.

“It’s not about how old you are; it’sabout how much function you have,”she said. “If by doing just a simple fill-ing that can help you feel better, thenwe have to do the best we can as den-tists to accomplish that goal.”

For seniors who have an active so-cial life, having nice-looking teeth is

BY JESSICA GREGOIRE | Forever Young Staff Report

FOREVER YOUNG FEATURE


prevalent in older patients. “We haveto take their general health into con-sideration when treating senior pa-tients,” Sirivolu said. “Many seniorsare taking medications.”

Many of these medications, as wellas the diseases they are meant to com-bat, affect the gums and teeth quality.“Some of these medications may makesenior patients more irritable,” Siri-volu said. “And they get tired easily,so we have to consider the amount ofchair time.”

The key to good care is building trustand creating understanding betweendoctor and patient.

“We have a lot of seniors coming infor what they believe is a simple prob-lem,” Sirivolu said. “It can be difficultfor them to understand that there is

more to the problem than one tooth.”It takes time and patience for the

doctors and staff to explain to patientswhat they really need. But explainingeach procedure and its importance,patients feel at ease and are more like-ly to keep on the right path to oralhealth.

“To make them understand what theyreally need, we have X-rays and mod-els on the screen for them to see,”Sirivolu said. “This helps them under-stand what is actually happening totheir teeth, and what we recommendto fix.”

At Family Dentist, it’s not about justgiving patients what they want; it’sabout making sure it’s what the patientneeds in order to have truly beneficialoral care. “We are about educating ourclients, and we want them to be in-formed on what is good for them,”Sirivolu said. “We give them educa-tional videos and pamphlets so they

can fully understand what we are do-ing to help them fix their oral prob-lems.”

Sirivolu and Patel treat oral healthproblems with the most state-of-the-art equipment. “We have a lot of op-tions we did not have before,” Sirivo-lu said. “We replace their teeth or wegive them dentures or implants becausefunction is more important at thisstage.”

If a patient’s teeth are not function-al, they can develop problems such asmalnutrition. “Some patients loseweight because they are not able tochew their food properly,” Sirivolunoted.

Family Dentist offers a variety ofoptions for patients who need im-proved oral health. The dentist canperform procedures such as mini-im-plants, bridges, partial and completedentures, simple crowns and In-visalign.

(Left) Dr. Sunitha Sirivolu givesLois Rohan, 76, a consultationwith a full review of her X-rays.


Dr. Sunitha Sirivolu with her husband and office manager Narendra Sirivolu and Family Dentist staffmembers Shawntae Smalls, Jennifer Sperring, Mayra Alvarenga, Dina Irizarry and Martha Villegas.



FY

FOREVER YOUNG FEATURESirivolu and Patel also perform the increasingly popular

and painless laser dentistry for procedures such as root ca-nals, fill-ins and gum treatments. “With laser dentistry, thehealing is much quicker, the post-op pain is less, and wecan accomplish more,” she said.

When a patient comes into Family Dentist with a prob-lem, “we first take a set of X-rays,” Sirivolu said. “I thenlook at the X-rays and do a clinical exam and jot down allmy findings.”

She then meets with the patient for a one-on-one evalua-tion. “I ask if there is any particular area they are having aproblem with,” Sirivolu said. “Most people say they don’thave a problem and that they’re just there for a checkup.”

It is the dentist’s job to explain their findings. “I walkthem through all my X-rays from 1 to 32, depending onhow many teeth they have, to show them where they mayhave a cavity and where their teeth are breaking down,”Sirivolu said.

Family Dentist of the Palm Beaches also emphasizes pre-ventive measures for seniors. “We give them crowns toprevent their teeth from fracturing,” Sirivolu said, “so theydon’t end up with bigger problems like root canals andextractions.”

Preventive care is even more important for people whoare going through menopause, and especially for those bat-tling cancer.

“We don’t want to expose these people to even more ra-diation than they already have,” Sirivolu said. “So we wantthem to correct these problems before they end up gettingextractions.”

Family Dentist of the Palm Beaches is located at 11903Southern Blvd., Suite 116, Royal Palm Beach, and at 225S. Federal Highway, Lake Worth. For more information,visit www.familydentistpalmbeach.com or call the RoyalPalm Beach office at (561) 795-7668 or the Lake Worthoffice at (561) 582-1911.

Dr. Sunitha Sirivolu is quick to inform patients about the dangers of not taking propercare of their teeth as they age. ‘It’s not about how old you are; it’s about how muchfunction you have,’ she said. ‘If by doing just a simple filling that can help you feelbetter, then we have to do the best we can as dentists to accomplish that goal.’


JOHN C. HUNTON and his wife, Mar-tha, co-owners of John C. Hunton AirConditioning & Refrigeration, havelived at their home that they built inThe Acreage since December 1986.

Since creating their company in1996, the Huntons have built their rep-utation on being a local firm that of-fers reliable air-conditioning and re-frigeration service in a wide variety ofareas.

Hunton worked for Sears for 20years before embarking on his ownbusiness. He is able to do a number ofheating, ventilation, refrigeration andair-conditioning jobs, including lightcommercial and residential, mainte-nance contracts, repairs, new installa-tions, existing change-outs, refrigera-tion, ice machines and pool heaters.

“We’ve even done spa units for hors-es,” he said, explaining that a compa-ny in Britain builds refrigeration unitsthat cool horses’ legs. “It’s like a boot,and it has hoses that go to it, and theystick the horse’s leg in this boot and itcirculates cold water for the joints. Igot into it because a customer in Penn-sylvania had sold one to someone overin Wellington. They were having prob-lems with it, so I went over and workedon it and took care of the problems.”

Hunton also installs split-head air-conditioning systems that are frequent-ly suitable for homes or offices that donot have conventional air-conditioningsystems with ductwork, using an out-door condenser and several evapora-tors at different locations inside. Thesystem is ideal for older construction

County to work before moving to TheAcreage. “Over the years, I got toknow Palm Beach County real well,and we like the country-style living.It’s a little quieter. When we movedhere, there was nothing around us. Weonly had three neighbors. We’ve beenin this same house since 1986. We’vecome through a lot of changes.”

Hunton said many of his recentneighbors are former Broward Coun-ty residents, drawn to The Acreage inthe aftermath of Hurricane Andrew in1992. “I had actually moved up herein ’84 through my job, and [Martha]was a service manager in Hallandale,”he said. “We met at Sears.”

She was a parts manager at the time.“I was changing tires and going to col-lege,” he said.

Her parents still live in BrowardCounty, while his parents have retiredin Ocala. “My brother still lives downin Broward,” John noted.

Their daughter, Brandi McElyea, isa staff sergeant in the U.S. Army andis based in Fort Meade, Md.

Son Kyle works for the company andexpects to receive his journeyman’scertificate in air conditioning and adegree in business at Palm Beach StateCollege in May. “Our son plans on tak-ing over the business,” Martha said.“He’s working toward that.”

The company offers a 10 percent dis-count to senior citizens. It offers 100percent financing and accepts all ma-jor credit cards. For more information,visit www.johnchuntonac.com or call(561) 798-3225.

John C. Hunton: 35 Years Of ExperienceIn Air Conditioning And Refrigeration

with window units. It’s much quieterand does not require the installation ofductwork, he said.

The company also installs air condi-tioning for new custom homes. Com-mercial work Hunton has done in-cludes jobs for Roger Dean Chevro-let, Wellington Animal Hospital, acluster of townhomes in Wellingtonand work for A New Day Rehab onSinger Island.

Martha said her husband is a greattroubleshooter. “If someone has had aproblem with units and they haven’tbeen able to get somebody to fix it andthey finally give him a call, he’ll real-ly work on it until it gets repaired,” shesaid.

The company is family-owned andoperated. While John does the repairwork, Martha keeps the books.

The company serves customers fromJupiter to Delray Beach, but it focuseson customers in Wellington, RoyalPalm Beach, Loxahatchee and TheAcreage, stressing that they are a lo-cal company with ties to the commu-nity.

Hunton, who is 49, has been in theair-conditioning business since he was14. “I’ve been doing it for 35-plusyears,” he said.

He has a degree in air conditioningand refrigeration from Broward Com-munity College. Both the Huntons areFlorida natives. “She was born in Hol-lywood, and I was born at HialeahMemorial,” John said.

He worked for Sears in Fort Lauder-dale and was transferred to Palm Beach

BY RON BUKLEY | Forever Young Staff Report

FOREVER YOUNG FEATURE

FY

Martha said her husband is a great troubleshooter. ‘If someone has had aproblem with units and they haven’t been able to get somebody to fix it and

they finally give him a call, he’ll really work on it until it gets repaired,’ she said.


John and Martha Hunton,owners of John C. Hunton AirConditioning & Refrigeration.

CO N V E N I E N T MO N T H LY RAT E S – NO BU Y- I N!

MOVE TO FOUNTAINVIEW AND Enjoy Life!

SPACIOUS2-BEDROOMS

NOWAVAILABLE!

111 Executive Center Drive • West Palm Beach, FL 33401561-697-5500 • 800-377-9531

www.FountainviewRetirement.comALF License #AL7827©2011 Five Star Quality Care, Inc.

Finest Assisted Living in Palm Beach County• Spacious studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments • Elegant restaurant-style dining• Scheduled transportation to shopping, restaurants,

theater and cultural events• Diverse activities program• First-class personal care for over 20 years

CALL 561-697-5500 TO LEARN MORE!

PetFriendly


SINCE THE DEBUT of Dancing withthe Stars in 2005, many Americanshave rediscovered ballroom dancing,and of course, the Forever Youngcrowd is at the forefront.

The huge Arthur Murray organiza-tion drove many of the dance crazesof the 20th century, participated in bythe “Greatest Generation” — parentsand grandparents of the Baby Boomersvisiting dance studios in droves today.In the same way, the Fred AstaireDance Studios scattered throughout thenation have helped fuel much of theenthusiasm for dancing that’s buildinganew.

One of those Astaire franchises is at4603 Okeechobee Blvd. in West PalmBeach. It’s owned and managed byGerman immigrant Doreen Schein-pflug, who started dancing at age 6.

ed States, the Ohio Star Ball, and in2009 were “Rising Star” semifinalists.Last year, they finished in the top eightin the country. “We just came backfrom a national competition in Orlan-do, and we got into the top four,”Luetzner said. “We made fourth placein the American smooth dances, andwe came in third place in the interna-tional-style dances.”

Luetzner and Scheinpflug and theirstaff of four other instructors strive toteach and train their students thorough-ly enough that they are able to com-pete on their own. “The majority ofpeople taking lessons in the studio arein their 40s, 50s and 60s. Our oldestclient is 85 years old. Some are in their20s, but they’re rarer,” Luetzner said.

The studio has fewer clients in their70s or 80s because many are alreadyfamiliar with ballroom dancing,Luetzner said. “They have done it alltheir lives. They’ve been going out todance parties [during their youngeryears], which is not so much the caseanymore,” he said.

Both individual and group classesare offered at the studio in ballroom,Latin, swing and wedding dances, forpeople of all ages and abilities, frombeginners to advanced dancers. Thestudio offers a “get started” special —two sessions for $20.

“We teach private lessons, where ourteachers are running their own sched-ules, and people take private classesindividually, and the schedules arevery flexible,” Luetzner said. “We alsooffer our students group classes. Thoseare usually divided into levels, specif-

Ballroom Dancing, Once Again GainingIn Popularity, Offers Many Benefits

Dance, she said, “has been my mainfocus and hobby ever since.” Schein-pflug opened the West Palm Beach stu-dio in May 2008. Co-owner and dancedirector Andreas “Andy” Luetzner,who joined her about three years ago,is also her professional dance partner.

The studio is tucked into a corner ofthe cozy Emporium Shoppes Plaza justwest of Military Trail. The dancingspace is bright and airy, with full-length windows illuminating the pol-ished wooden flooring accented by anice cone-shaped chandelier.

Luetzner and Scheinpflug have rep-resented the United States in Profes-sional 10-Dance international-stylecompetitions overseas and recentlyhave gotten into the American smoothstyle. They have competed in one ofthe biggest dance contests in the Unit-

BY CHRIS FELKER | Forever Young Staff Report

SENIORTOPIA: TIME TO DANCE

(Left) Fred Astaire Dance Studio co-owner Andreas Luetzner with MichelleLardiere at the reception desk.

PHOTO BY CHRIS FELKER/FYLM STAFF


ically split into beginnerclasses, social foundationlevel, or bronze, silver orgold. We teach in a system.Any student who is learningin our studio knows wherethey’re at.”

Group classes are gener-ally in the evenings. “Wealso offer to our customers,every Friday night, a prac-tice party,” Luetzner said.“It’s a dance party where ourcustomers can come in anddance for an hour and a half.We put music on, and myinstructors from the studioare going to be around.We’re basically just practic-ing and dancing the nightaway.”

The group class listingscan be found at www.fredastairewpb.com, and includesuch focuses as basic pat-

terns, rhythm technique, in-ternational style, smoothtechnique and many others.

Luetzner said the Fridaynight parties are for students“to have an occasion to prac-tice what they’ve learned ei-ther in their private class —a very individual class, per-sonally designed for thatperson — or what they havelearned in their group les-sons.”

“They try out dances withdifferent partners, not justwith their instructors,” hesaid. “It also has a very goodsocial aspect.”

Sometimes the group goesout to a club so participantscan get a feel for the differ-ent atmosphere in whichthey’ll eventually be com-fortable dancing.

Luetzner noted that there

are many benefits for adultstaking dance classes. “Whilethey’re dancing along on thefloor, they have to memorizethe set. They have to usetheir muscles,” he said. “It’sboth mental and physical ex-ercise.”

And he has seen dancework wonders. “Right nowI have a person taking a les-son from one of my instruc-tors. He’s 85 years old, andI’ve been watching him forthree years now. It’s amaz-ing what people can start tomemorize at that age, whatthey can actually accom-plish, and how they can lookon the floor if they’re prac-ticing and learning,”Luetzner said. “They have tomemorize steps, they have

to lead, they have to follow,and at the same time they’regetting exercise, so it’s verygood for people of any age.”

Dance also improves pos-ture, regardless of the dancestyle. If somebody wants todance gracefully, they haveto create a very well-main-tained posture,” he said.“And dancing is somethingthat gives people the oppor-tunity to practice postureday in and day out.”

Not only that, but it can bea healing art, too. Continueon to the next story to learnhow it helped one PalmBeach Gardens woman’s re-covery from a spinal injury.

For more about Fred As-taire Dance Studio, call(561) 478-1400.


Fred Astaire dance instructor Paula Principe with DouglasDrummond of Loxahatchee. Drummond is studying Latindance at the studio. PHOTO BY CHRIS FELKER/FYLM STAFF

FY


PEOPLE COME TO DANCE from alldifferent directions and life paths, fora wide variety of very human reasons.One new dance couple — Bob DeMar-co of Wellington and Wendy Widjajaof Palm Beach Gardens — had strik-ingly different motivations for study-ing dance. But now their dance stepshave intertwined and they’re trainingfor competition together.

DeMarco, 55, moved to the areafrom Miami, where he grew up, in1982. He co-owns Screen Builders inWest Palm Beach and has lived inWellington since 1988.

DeMarco started coming to FredAstaire Dance Studio in West PalmBeach two years ago. “I’ve alwaysliked music, I’ve always liked to dance,and I always wanted to learn to dancewith a partner,” he said. “My parentsused to ballroom dance when theywere younger, so I think it’s a little bitin my blood. It’s good exercise, andit’s also good for the brain, becauseyou’re constantly learning.”

Widjaja, 46, has become a dancerbecause, remarkably, it has helped healher and ease pain from a neck injuryshe suffered years ago. As a flight at-tendant for Singapore Airlines, whenthe jet she was on hit turbulence overthe Pacific, her head hit the roof of theplane.

“I was injured a little bit, but I neverknew, and one day, I just felt pain inmy shoulder,” she recalled. “When Isaw the doctor and they did an MRI,they found out that my cervical spinehad been injured severely. So I amdancing with two herniated discs andthree degenerated discs in my spine.”

When she was diagnosed seven oreight years, ago, she said, “I was invery bad shape. In 2008, after all I’dbeen through medically, I just got tired

tions that they asked me if I wanted toget into. So I did the first ones, and Ienjoyed the competition part of it,along with the dancing, so I’ve beendoing any competitions that I can.”

His parents used to dance in MiamiBeach years ago. Before his olderbrother was born, “they actually likedto go to the Harvest Moon Ball in NewYork — they had qualified for that [oneyear], and then my mother got preg-nant right before so they couldn’t go,and that’s when they got out of it.”

They never got back into it again,DeMarco said. “I actually saw my fa-ther dance at a wedding one time withhis sister,” he recalled. “They weredoing the jitterbug, or the jive, and Iwas really surprised to see that becauseI never knew that he could dance that

Different Paths Brought Bob DeMarcoAnd Wendy Widjaja To The Dance Floor

of being sick. And there was a grandopening at the West Palm Beach stu-dio. I walked in with a friend — shewas 76 years old and had just lost herhusband — so we decided to attend thegrand opening because of Dancingwith the Stars, and one of the dancerswas present.”

Widjaja was invited to take a dancelesson. The rest is now but a memory,as is most of the pain she had. “It’samazing what dancing has done forme,” she said.

DeMarco started at Fred Astaire un-der the tutelage of instructor JackieRodriguez. “Once I got into it, I likedthe rhythm dances — which are thecha-cha, rumba, swing, salsa, mambo,hustle,” he said. “Once I started learn-ing those, they had monthly competi-

BY CHRIS FELKER | Forever Young Staff Report


Teacher Jackie Rodriguez goesover a move with Wendy Widjajaas Bob DeMarco looks on.

PHOTO BY CHRIS FELKER/FYLM STAFF


SENIORTOPIA: TIME TO DANCEwell. That always stood out in mymind.”

DeMarco said he gets personal ful-fillment out of his hobby. “When themusic starts playing, and I’m dancing,it’s really a great feeling. I enjoy that.And then after that, I really enjoy learn-ing the new patterns and the tech-niques,” he said.

DeMarco has been working with

Widjaja, originally from Singapore, forabout eight months. For her, it’s a bitmore visceral. Dancing tones her mus-cles and keeps her spinal injury frombothering her too much.

“I had three years of therapy and wastold at one point that I may have to gothrough surgery. Dancing has helped,and I was never on medication or phys-ical therapy since [I started]. There isa lot of explanation to how it works. Idon’t know — to me, I just felt that Iwas a walking miracle,” she said.

She’s hit a routine now: “I practicewith Bob at least three days a week,and I have my own routine which I domyself at least once a week, and it alldepends on what my goal is, whetherit’s the showcase, or it’s a regional orother competition. So then I work ac-cording to what I need to accomplishmy goals.”

DeMarco said that when he’s com-plimented on his and his dance part-ner’s footwork, it’s “one of the things

that makes you really feel good — Imean, besides winning competitionsand doing the correct technique of thedances.”

DeMarco is almost always at the stu-dio’s Friday night dance parties, andthough he’s mostly dancing with Jackieor Wendy, “I’m single, don’t have agirlfriend right now, but you know, I’mlooking,” he said.

He and Widjaja are training to com-pete in a regional contest at the IbisGolf & Country Club in West PalmBeach in May. “That’s my first goal,we just want to try it out for the firstregional, and I don’t know where wetake it from there,” Widjaja said. “ButBob has been an amazing partner, andI can’t ask for more — very dedicat-ed, very hard-working, he’s almost likea male trained version of me. When itcomes to competing, he’s the one whoworks a lot more, and always pushesme, which, you know, that’s what greatpartners need to do.” FY

DeMarco and Widjaja in action.PHOTO BY CHRIS FELKER/FYLM STAFF


Michael J. Monzel, M.D.Board Certified, Gastroenterology

Aviv Katz, D.O.Board Certified, Gastroenterology

Carlos Leon, M.D.Board Certified, Gastroenterology

An HCA Affiliate

D D C

LOXAHATCHEE12953 Palms West Drive, Suite 201

ATLANTIS5511 S. Congress Avenue, Suite 125

Prescriptions Plus, Inc.Providing Quality Healthcare Since 1989


HOWARD MARLOW IS 82. We tellyou that right up front because mostpeople wouldn’t believe it to look athim. He’s fit and trim and has moreenergy than many people three decadeshis junior.

It could be that he eats a lot of fruit.It could be that he drinks a half-gallonof juiced vegetables each week. Itcould be that he avoids meat, sweetsand hard alcohol.

It could be.But we think it’s the dance.Marlow, a Wellington resident since

1996, has been dancing and teachingdance ever since high school.

“I attended Rufus King High Schoolin Milwaukee,” said Marlow. “RufusKing was a Civil War soldier, and theschool was planning an old-fashioned,Civil War-type ball, so the teacherasked, ‘Does anyone here know howto do the waltz?’ I said, ‘I belong to aGerman gymnastic club and we dowaltzes,’ and that was my first experi-ence teaching dance.”

After graduation, Marlow continueddancing and, in the 1950s, found him-self on television. He and his dancepartner, whose name was Claire Ger-ber, became regulars on Arthur God-frey and His Friends, The Kate SmithHour and The Steve Allen Show, billedas the dance team of “Marlow andAdrian” (her show name).

“We did an acrobatic adagio style ofdance to different themes — circus, iceskating, whatever the show came upwith,” Marlow said. “We worked invaudeville at the Palace Theatre inNew York.”

When his contract with the TV showran out, Marlow joined the Navy andwas sent to Key West. He married Ger-ber, and she did stand-in work for mov-

“We held dances every Friday,taught classes every weeknight andhosted wedding receptions on week-ends,” Marlow said.

But crime in the area began to getout of hand. “I was robbed three times,a couple of them with a shotgun to myhead. They don’t fool around downthere,” he recalled. “That’s when myson Jody told me to move to Welling-ton.”

After the death of his second wife,Jody’s mother, Marlow decided to stickto dance partners. He has been “goingwith” his current partner, Lois Walser,for 30 years. She lives just down thestreet, and they see each other almostevery day. “We have a wonderful rela-tionship,” Marlow said.

These days, Marlow teaches ball-room dance five nights a week for adulteducation programs in middle and highschools in Wellington, Lake Worth andLantana. He welcomes those interest-ed in classes to call him direct at (561)793-5370 “because they have a mil-lion questions, and the schools don’tknow the answers.”

Above all, he wants you to dance.“I had a man come up to me and say:

‘I always wanted to do the polka withmy wife. Well, now I can finally dothe polka, and, unfortunately, my wifeis no longer here.’ An evening of so-cial dancing and maybe a little dinner— it costs hardly anything,” Marlowsaid. “If he golfs and she plays cards,well, everything is separate. You’re notdoing anything together.”

For the schedule-challenged or ex-tremely shy, Marlow still does offer in-home classes. “I think it’s a wonderfulthing to be able to pass along what I’veknown and enjoyed for so manyyears,” he said.

Local Dance Teacher Howard MarlowHas Enjoyed Waltzing Through Life

ie star Terry Moore during the 1953filming of Beneath the 12-Mile Reefwith Robert Wagner. As for Marlowhimself, he was on an experimentalship with a schedule that gave him eve-nings off. He filled those off-hourswith (what else?) dance.

Along with his wife, Marlow wasteaching dance at Key West VFWs andthe USO and, just as his military ser-vice was coming to an end, he was ap-proached by a gentleman who said:“You kids do a fast act. We could useyou at the USO.” Marlow liked whathe heard and wanted to sign a three-year contract to travel around the worldteaching dance at various USO facili-ties. Gerber didn’t. In the end, the part-nership broke up, with her moving toColorado and Marlow moving to Mi-ami.

“I walked up Flagler Street and sawthere were dance studios, but I didn’tlike the way they were run. The ac-cent was on money, money, money —not on dance,” Marlow said.

Eventually, Marlow remarried andtook a job at Hertz. He stayed withHertz for 38 years, but, in the evenings,he was still teaching dance. He taughtin people’s homes and, when thecrowds got too big, rented space at lo-cal country clubs, such as the CoralGables Country Club, where JackieGleason was living.

“I remember Jackie Gleason as adown-to-earth kind of guy,” Marlowsaid. “He and his golf pro, Babe Hart,would be sitting in the club having din-ner while I set up for my class. We’dtalk.”

When rental rates got out of hand,Marlow opened the Marlow Ballroomin a 50- by 75-foot space spanningthree Miami storefronts.

BY DEBORAH WELKY | Forever Young Staff Report


FY


Dance teacher HowardMarlow with his dancepartner Lois Walser.

PHOTO BY RON BUKLEY/FYLM STAFF



FY

ON THE COVER of this month’s issue, Joyce Shepherdmodels her impeccable costuming as a member of the Orig-inal Florida Follies, a troupe of more than 30 female and10 male dancers who perform in regular stage shows forcharity each January through March in southern Palm BeachCounty and the Fort Lauderdale area.

They give what’s billed as “an inspiring and high-energyshow for all ages.”

“First in talent, first in glamour, we are the charity thatbuys new clothing for children in need,” the group explainson its web site.

The nonprofit organization has given more than $450,000to children’s charities since this tap-dancing and stage showdancing group was founded in 2000. The Original FloridaFollies is directed and produced by Cathy Dooley and per-

forms at a handful of venues. The 2012 schedule featuredseven shows.

We caught up with Shepherd on Saturday, March 24, justbefore she left for her last rehearsal. For on Sunday, March25, the troupe gave the last show of its 2012 Florida seasonat the Parker Playhouse in Fort Lauderdale.

Shepherd has been dancing since she was a tot. Now 75,she started at age 3, learning tap dancing with Kaye Gorham,Dooley’s aunt. “At 8 years old, I did the stair dance at Car-negie Hall in Miss Kaye’s recital,” Shepherd recalled.

Her biggest reason for being a member of the Follies is“because I love it, I love being on stage, and also the factthat we give all the proceeds to needy children.”

For more information about the Florida Follies, call (954)956-2626 or visit www.theoriginalfloridafollies.com.

Meet Our Cover Model, Joyce ShepherdBY CHRIS FELKER | Forever Young Staff Report

Dancer Joyce Shephard, a member of the Original Florida Follies, decked out in her costume.PHOTO BY ABNER PEDRAZA/FYLM STAFF


“WOULD YOU LIKE todance?” This was my No. 1pickup line of all time!Dancing was and is my sec-ond favorite thing! The mid-1950s were my teenage for-mative years and an era weseniors will never forget.The music lives on, and westill dance to the same today.

I grew up in South Phila-delphia. “Joey, Sixteen,South Philly” was my rollcall name on AmericanBandstand. The WFIL-TVstudio at 46th and MarketStreet was two subway ridesand 15 cents from BishopNeumann High School,where my friend and rockstar Bobby Rydell and Iwent to school together. Inaddition to my two to threetimes a week at Bandstand,I went to two or three highschool dances: Bishop Neu-mann, Camden Catholic andSaint Joe’s … yes, I was andstill am a danceaholic. Yes,those were the days!

usually a slow dance.Whether it was the Flamin-gos crooning “Lovers Nev-er Say Goodbye” or JesseBelvin lamenting “GoodNight My Love,” teenagersgrabbed their special partnerand slowly circled the dancefloor … while the shiny mir-rored disco ball illuminatedthe room with colorful cir-cles. Yes, those were thedays!

Now at 69, I am still danc-ing and it’s still my secondfavorite thing. When Imoved to Florida, there weresome great dances … do youremember: Banana Max inJupiter, Oldies Night at Club

‘Would You Like To Dance?’ MemoriesFrom My ‘American Bandstand’ Youth

Growing up in Philadel-phia, the real birthplace ofrock ‘n’ roll, home of WIBG990 Radio, everybody wasa dancer. We were all Stroll-ing, Twisting (thanks, Chub-by), Jitterbugging, evenBunny Hopping and Bump-ing. Then again, the mainreason every guy went to thedances was none of theabove. The reason was slowdancing with the girls!Thanks to Johnny Mathis’“Chances Are” and PaulAnka’s “Put Your Head onMy Shoulder” and “PuppyLove,” “Would you like todance?” was a very success-ful pickup line. Yes, thosewere the days!

When I was 16, my firstdate with my wife was to“The Rock-N-High Hop” onthe Boardwalk in Sea IsleCity, N.J. (20 miles south ofAtlantic City). She put herhead on my shoulder, andthree years later, we had ourfirst of five children. Therewas a reason why, in the1950s and ’60s, the lastdance at record hops was

MEMORY LANE BY JOE NASUTI

FY

Joe Nasuti is an entertain-ment columnist for theTown-Crier newspaper. Hismonthly Memory Lane col-umns feature memories frombygone days.

Safari, Pete’s in Boca? Wellwe still have great places todance: 51 Supper Club andDirty Martini at Downtownat the Gardens, BB Kingsand Blue Martini at CityPlace, the Colony and Tabooin Palm Beach, Players Clubin Wellington and just abouteverywhere in Boca. I guessour dancing days are stillgoing strong, so keep danc-ing. It is great exercise andas romantic as it was 50years ago! ’Til next time,remember: We can’t helpgrowing older, but we don’thave to grow up. Stay For-ever Young … and dancinghelps!

Growing up inPhiladelphia, the realbirthplace of rock ‘n’

roll, home of WIBG 990Radio, everybody wasa dancer. We were all

Strolling, Twisting(thanks, Chubby),

Jitterbugging, evenBunny Hoppingand Bumping.

SENIOR MOMENTS BY DEBORAH WELKY

Discovering My High School Yearbook InThe Attic Sent Me On A Trip Back In Time


Deborah Welky’s humor column The Sonic Boomer ispublished weekly in the Town-Crier. Follow her on Twitterat www.twitter.com/TheSonicBoomer and visit The SonicBoomer page on Facebook. FY

IN A RABID FRENZY of cleaningrecently, I took to the attic. I quicklythrew outdated tax returns and uglycurtains down the stairs but came to ascreeching halt when I encounteredmy old high school yearbooks.

“Awwwwww,” I screeched.Even the most diehard professional

organizer has to stop what she’s doingwhen she comes across her old year-books.

Weren’t we cute? Weren’t we inno-cent? Weren’t those the most godaw-ful hairstyles you’ve ever seen?

Pretty soon, the stacks of old maga-zines and boxes of souvenirs were leftto rot while I sat on the top step remi-niscing.

Unlike a lot of old junk I had purgedfrom my life that week, the yearbookswere special. In the first place, I thought I’d lost them some-where along the way. There’s a lot of mileage between Wis-consin and Florida, and some of the roads are rocky. In thesecond place, weren’t we cute?

I think it’s important to look at old photographs, even ofoneself. When you reach a certain age, it’s not vanity any-more; it’s history.

Perhaps because of my age, or perhaps because of a ca-reer spent writing humor, I have become a sarcastic oldcurmudgeon. Worse, I like it. But looking at my own naivelittle face, I remember that I had dreams for the future. Onewas to become a writer. Check. Another was to move fromWisconsin to “the southern tip of Illinois.”

“Why there?” my perplexed father asked. “I figure it’llbe warmer, but I’ll still get the seasons,” I told him.

Florida is definitely warmer. And it’s taken almost 40years, but I think I’m beginning to notice seasons.

I also notice that in almost every photograph, I’m smil-ing. I didn’t have a ton of friends, but evidently I was pret-ty happy nonetheless. Everyone who wrote in my bookcertainly thought so. Maybe I’m one of those people whois happiest when she’s left alone once in a while, to think.

Up there in that attic I asked my-self, “Would the 17-year-old girl inthat book be satisfied if she had knownthe way her life would turn out?”

I thought about where I came from,where I am and where I think I’m go-ing. I thought about opportunities tak-en, opportunities lost and opportuni-ties that were found again — in unex-pected places. I thought about the kidsI knew in high school, the people Ihave worked with and my family.

I put all this information into myCurmudgeon Meter, and I think I mayhave to find a new line of work. Be-cause I’m happy.

I’m not saying nothing bad everhappened to me in my life. I’m say-ing nothing that bad ever happenedto me in my life.

I still wish I hadn’t believed certain people, gone certainplaces, said certain things. A lot of people I trusted didn’tdeserve my trust. But, if I had it to do differently, would Ireally want to approach every minute of my life with skep-ticism? With that attitude, how could anything wonderfulever happen? There wouldn’t be any room for the Wow.And I am an unabashed chaser of the Wow.

It could be something as simple as noticing that the budsare already out on the trees. Wow.

It could be that the fettucine alfredo at Olive Garden isconsistently good. Wow!

Or, it could be something bigger. My husband won atscratch-off, my son survived the car crash, my daughtergot promoted. Wow! (Sometimes my Wows come vicari-ously, through others.)

Sometimes, people who are down in the dumps are toldto write down 10 good things that happen to them eachday. It’s not that they need 10, it’s that they’ll start looking.“Let me hurry up so I can cross this stupid task off mylist,” they begin. And they end up saying: “Wow. Life ain’tthat bad.”

It could be that they found a nickel on the street. It couldbe that it didn’t rain on their new suede shoes. It could bethat they came across their long-lost high school yearbookand liked what they saw. It’s worth celebrating.

And, now that I’m old enough, worth celebrating with adelightful glass of wine.

Visit www.Vandell.comWellingtonCourtyard Shoppes

(Between Sam Jon’s and Kon Tiki)

753-7937

Royal PalmSouthern Palms Crossing

(Between Stein Mart & Marshalls)

784-5220

Both Locations Open 10 to 6 Daily

What IsYour Old GoldWorth?1) Cash Money

2) A CruiseYou AlwaysWanted

3) AddToYour Retirement Fund

4) A GreatWeekend Getaway

5)Trade for aWonderful Piece of Jewelry

Highest Prices Paid in theHighest Gold Market... Ever

GOLD

IS OV

ER

$1700

per ounce

WE’RE BUYING • Gold - All Kinds • Sterling Silver Flatware • Antique Equestrian Pieces • Diamonds - All Sizes - All QualitiesWE’RE BUYING • Gold - All Kinds • Sterling Silver Flatware • Antique Equestrian Pieces • Diamonds - All Sizes - All Qualities

April 2012 Forever Young Lifestyle Magazine

Documents

Transcript of April 2012 Forever Young Lifestyle Magazine