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Photograph by Skye Dunlap
Agnes Arnold and husband Lee have been dancing to their own tune for going on 56 years.
A local couple is still dancing in the street
after more than 50 years swinging together
For decades, Lee and Agnes Arnold have been tearing up the dance floors in the Glen
By Mary Spicuzza
Their old stomping grounds have been replaced by the Lawrence Expressway, but it hasn't stopped the dancing feet of Lee and Agnes Arnold. From two-stepping to big band tunes at San Jose's old dance halls to mastering square dancing moves, the pair have been dance partners since the 1940s.
For the first time ever, the longtime Willow Glen couple finally have a chance to attend Willow Glen's Dancing on the Avenue. The busy pair usually roams off every summer, when they attend Oregon's big Diamond Lake square dancing festival. But this year the festivities don't start until July--when the Arnolds will celebrate their 56th anniversary .
"The other day I found an invitation to a dance that Lee gave me while we were dating," Agnes giggles. "We've been dancing since before we were married."
In the 1940s, the couple frequented the old Naperdak Hall, where crowds packed the club every Saturday night to hear big band tunes. The Arnolds can remember hearing big-name bands, including Glenn Miller, Duke Ellington and Artie Shaw.
"We're done 'em all. Cha chas, two steps. We even did the marimba," Lee says. "But I'm no Fred Astaire."
Despite their wide range of styles, Agnes says it was square dancing that ignited their passion for the art. In 1960, the Arnolds started attending the Dudes and Dolls square-dancing club three nights a week. During their long tenure, they've traveled from barn dances at DeAnza College--complete with hay stacks and dirt floors--to camping at Oregon festivals. The Arnolds celebrated their 50th anniversary with a square dancing shindig in Campbell.
They began ballroom lessons the following year, in 1961. Lee says he can't pick a favorite style, but prefers both to the "so-called dancing" that kids do today.
Apparently the gene was passed on to their daughter Stacie Arnold Gipson, who attends Dancing on the Avenue with her sister and family every year. And this year she hopes to be accompanied by her swinging parents.
"We've been dancing together after all these years," Agnes says. "Not well, but we're still dancing."
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
