Line Dancing By Moonlight

If you went to the Bar Harbour library in Massapequa to return your copy of Harry Potter recently, you might have noticed a mob of folks getting down in the parking lot to some good ol' Country music.

Sherri Palencia has been teaching people how to line dance for the past 30 years, and by the looks of it, she's not about to slow down any time soon.

Palencia teaches Line Dancing every Friday morning year-round at 10:30AM at the Bar Harbor library, and addition to other select venues around Long Island. She also teaches at Jones Beach every Wednesday during the summer months.

The beginner-level dance class in the library parking lot is an annual event that has occurred every September for the last several years.

Chris and Diana Tyson have been going to country line dances held by Sherri Palencia for ten years now.

"We've always liked Country music. One time we attended a line dance at a school held by Sherri, and we had no idea what it was about," Chris said. "We were instantly hooked- she's the type of person that gets people crazy to do this."

"She's such an inspiration, and she has such great energy," Diana added. "She's my hero!"

Palencia was a school teacher in West Islip for 30 years, retiring back in 1998.

"While I was teaching, I became aware of a place called Sundance in Bay Shore," she said. "This was back in the early 80's. At the time I was doing Square and International Folk dancing, and I saw these country people doing the same thing to country music, and I loved it. So, I bought a lifetime membership, and the place closed three weeks later."

Undeterred, Palencia set out on her own to learn what would become her new passion.

"I took a tape recorder, a notebook, and went out west where it came from," she said. "I went to Colorado and California, recorded every dance I could, came back and started an adult education course. At the time, line dancing was only in bars, and I wanted to legitimize it."

And legitimize it she did, becoming the first woman on Long Island to teach country line dancing in places such as schools, churches, and libraries.

After spinning the tunes herself in the parking lot from a laptop computer, Palencia then handed the musical duties over to a local four-piece band, The Fugitives.

In another example of the many benefits the Massapequa library provides for its community, the Bar Harbor branch covered the costs of the evening's dance, including the band.

Marge Golden and her husband Mike have been shaking their hips with Palencia for many a year.

"We love Sherri," she said. "We've been dancing with her since 1989, when she introduced my husband Mike and I to country western line dancing, and we've been doing it ever since."

Before going back out to the parking lot to put her students through the paces once again, Palencia had a message for those sitting on the sidelines.

"Discover the passion of line dancing," she said. "Just express yourself, put a smile on your face, and kick some butt!"