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It&rsquo;s a true &lsquo;senior prom&rsquo; when these folks step out



 

 
Seniors dance the afternoon away at Genetti Hotel &amp; Conference Center during the 44th Annual Senior Citizens Prom. Those attending are members of the area&rsquo;s senior citizens centers.
 
 S. JOHN WILKIN photos/THE TIMES LEADER 
 




 

 
Brenda Lispi, senior center services director of Area Agency on Aging, crowns King Sam Messina and Queen Mary Ann Mischissin at the Senior Citizens Prom at Genetti Hotel &amp; Conference Center.
 

 

WILKES-BARRE &ndash; They wore dresses and sport coats and carried flowers. They smiled and danced the day away. And the King and Queen started it all off by dancing to &ldquo;You Belong to Me.&rdquo;
Nearly 400 senior citizens between the ages of 60-something and 90-something attended the 44th annual senior dinner dance &ndash; &ldquo;Hollywood Glamour&rdquo; &ndash; sponsored by the Area Agency on Aging of Luzerne-Wyoming Counties. The event was held in the Grand Ballroom of Genetti Hotel &amp; Conference Center in Wilkes-Barre.
&ldquo;This is wonderful; what a great event to have all these people together,&rdquo; said Mary Ann Mischissin of Freeland, who was crowned Queen.
She danced with her King, Sam Messina, of Pittston.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m glad I came,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m very happy to have met Mary Ann.&rdquo;
After a couple slow songs to get people out of their seats, the band quickened things up and the crowd responded. They were jitterbugging and busting moves to the music played by the group Fancy Dancer. 
Smiles were on every face, and cheers were shouted from the tables as dancers went by.
&ldquo;This is my first time here, but from what I can see, we need more men to dance with,&rdquo; said Jane, of Mountain Top. She wouldn&rsquo;t divulge her last name.
Walter &ldquo;Lefty&rdquo; Dorzinsky, a longtime baseball umpire in the region, was there with his wife, Margaret. They live in Wilkes-Barre Township, and they come to the dinner dance every year.
&ldquo;This is a great time,&rdquo; Walter said. His wife added, &ldquo;We love to dance and the food is terrific, and we get to meet all these wonderful people.&rdquo;
Noreen Evanko, director of the senior center on East Market Street in Wilkes-Barre, said her clients can&rsquo;t wait for the dance to come.
&ldquo;They get all dressed up and they love to socialize,&rdquo; Evanko said. &ldquo;They look forward to this every year as much as any teenager looks forward to their prom.&rdquo;
Brenda Lispi, senior center services director, said the event kicks off the annual celebration of Older Americans Month.
&ldquo;Our senior citizens are still important members of the community,&rdquo; Lispi said. &ldquo;As you can see, they are still vital and very active. They come to our centers daily and they are involved with community projects and events. They aren&rsquo;t at home staring at four walls.&rdquo;
Lispi said more than 65 door prizes were given away, including the grand prize, sponsored by UGI Central Penn Gas -- dinner for two and two tickets to see Daniel O&rsquo;Donnell at the F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts to the King and Queen of the dance.
The attendees represented the agency&rsquo;s senior centers: Butler Township, Dallas, Edwardsville, Falls, Freeland, Hazleton, the JCC, Kingston, Lake Winola, Lee Park, Mountain Top, Pittston, Plains Township, Plymouth, Nanticoke, Shickshinny and Wyoming County senior centers.
Lispi said the theme of this year&rsquo;s celebration is &ldquo;Older Americans: Connecting the Community,&rdquo; and notes the many ways older adults bring inspiration and continuity to the fabric of their communities. She said their shared histories, diverse experiences, and wealth of knowledge have made our culture, economy, and local character what they are today.

An Age Of Dancing