The Montana Mavericks Square Dance Club had its first lesson in two years Friday night at the Plains Paradise Senior Center. It had synchronized moves and some good musical beats, but more than the occasional stepping on toes. 

On Saturday at the club's November dance, there were no students, fewer toe mishaps, and the gathering was done in a more colorful setting as the participants donned their square dance apparel.

It'll be about three months before the nine students of Friday's class will be able to take part in a real square dance, said Darlene Jolly, the club president, which might be good, since the tempo was a bit faster than the class, put on by Lorrie Lane of Kalispell, the class caller. Lane was also on hand for the Mavericks' Saturday dance, but as the cuer for the round dance segments. Than Peake of Spokane, Wash., served as the square dance caller Saturday.

Peake and Lane alternated times at the microphone as the dancers took to the floor. On Friday, due to a lack of men in the "Square Dancing 101" class, four of the women donned purple sashes two indicate they were boys, including 17-year-old Anna Hafner, one of seven youths that decided to take the class.

Claire Wrobleski, 16, of Plains had seen the signs for the class and asked another teen about taking the class, leading to the group of kids, which ranged from 11-year-old Jayden Cook to 19-year-old Rebecca Madden. "We were thinking that we should do more dancing in the community and this looked fun," said 17-year-old Maddie Madden. Most of them plan to continue with the class, but probably won't join the club. Lane felt they did very well for their first time. In addition to the kids, Cindy Thomas of Plains and Deb Pier of Hot Springs were students in the class, along with nearly a dozen club members, who didn't need the class, but served as what they call "angels" to fill spots and help beginners. 

Lane said there are 64 moves in the main stream square dance program. She took them through 15 moves Friday and went over square dance terminology, positions and moves. It's a building class with new moves and a review of old ones each week, according to Lane, who's been a square dance caller and a round dance cuer for 12 years. "The biggest thing is getting people to know their right foot from their left," said Lane, who's also a member of the Libby Spinning Squares club.

Jolly was pleased to see the group of teenagers at their class and hopes to get younger people in the club. But age made no difference during Saturday's dance when the five men and six women strutted their moves to a myriad of dancing. But even the fast-paced tunes didn't slow the participants, which ranged from 50-85 years old. Plains resident Terry Watkins, 68, has had both knees and one hip replaced, and has been through two hernia operations in recent years. He admittedly has slowed down, but it doesn't keep him off the dance floor. "I've had times there's so much pain I didn't think I could do it," said Watkins, a square dancer since 2003. "If I had to, I'd do this on crutches," he added. "We're here to have fun. That's why we do this. Otherwise, we've defeated our purpose," he said. Jolly and Watkins are the only members of the club when it began 17 years ago. 

This is only the second time for the 37-year-old Peake to serve as caller at a Mavericks dance, though he's been a caller since 2016. Peake mixed numbers by doing pattern calling, where he just gave commands as the music played, and he did singing calling, where he sang and mixed the lyrics with his commands. Peake played, pop, Country and rock 'n roll from the 1960s to the 1990s. 

Seventy-six-year-old Michael Murray, who's been a square and round dancer with his wife, Sharon since 2009, said he has to be careful not get listen too intently at the music and miss the commands, especially during the faster paced numbers where commands come quickly. "You have to really listen or you're out of sync," said Murray, who had a matching outfit with his wife. "It's a good place to have fun and meet people," he said. He said that once he learned the commands and did it for awhile it became natural, although he admitted he still makes mistakes. Michael likes square dancing better than round dance, but Sharon prefers round dancing.

Round dancing music is generally slower and more mellow with only music and the cuer's commands. Round dances include waltzes, foxtrot and two-step numbers, said Jolly. It's comprised of several couples on the floor, following the direction of the cuer, but as a pair. But having a partner wasn't always necessary. Watkins danced solo twice. 

Square dancing requires eight people who operate as a unit and make synchronized moves based on commands by the caller. When there aren't enough pairs, the group has a "ghost" dancer and pretend someone is in that spot. The dance went for two and a half hours with some of the participants showing their footwork in every dance. Saturday's dancers, mostly Maverick club members, came from Plains, Paradise, Thompson Falls, Kalispell and Hot Springs, along with Peake's mother, Kathy, from Spokane. Only a few of the dancers took breaks; others were on the floor for every number. The Montana Mavericks Square Dance Club was established in 2004. The cost to join the club is $12 a year. The club's dancing season began in June and in October, they hold a dance on the first Saturday of the month at the senior center at 7 p.m. through May. The club sponsored the Montana State Festival in Ronan in May and had 171 dancers, though only 15 were from Sanders County, said Jolly. 

Don Burrell of Thompson Falls, the club's vice president, was one of the few to hit the floor for nearly every dance Saturday, sometimes with his daughter, Kelly Durgeloh of Charlo, as his partner. Burrell is also a member of the Libby Spinning Squares and attends about 30 dances a year in Montana and Idaho. He started square dancing in 1972, stopped eight years later, but then picked up the hobby once again in 2004. The Plains club has 25 members today, but Jolly is always in the recruiting mode for new members. Anyone interested in joining the Montana Mavericks Square Dance Club can call Darlene Jolly at (406) 826-8951.