Still dancing at 103

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Ralph Polverino and his wife, Tina, go dancing every Wednesday afternoon at the Knights of Columbus in Mineola. But the dance on July 19 was even more special to Ralph, as shared a dance with his long-time friend, Jean Mastrangelo, for her 103rd birthday the next day.

“Many times when I dance with her, she says, ‘It’s just like being in heaven,’ that’s her words,” Polverino said.

The Polverinos, both 84-year-old Valley Stream residents, started going to the dance hall every week almost 25 years ago. There they saw Mastrangelo, take two buses from Flushing, Queens to dance from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. with her boyfriend Pat Russo. Russo has since passed away, but Mastrangelo said if it weren’t for him, she might never have taken dance lessons.

“I got this partner, he was an excellent partner and he insisted that I take lessons, so I took lessons with him,” Mastrangelo recalled.

The lessons were taught at her retirement home and did not cost too much money, Mastrangelo said. Her teacher was a woman named Dee, who owned the Mineola Knights of Columbus hall. So, she and Russo went to dance at the hall every Saturday night and then moved the program to Wednesday afternoons almost 26 years ago. Back then, she helped out with the program, according to Polverino.

“At one time, she used to collect the money, she used to cut the bagels, but now she’s 103 so we have Jo-Ann and she does most of the things,” he said.

Since those early days of the dance program, the membership has expanded to include senior citizens from throughout Long Island. Vincent Milano, 90, of West Islip, has been coming to the dances for almost five years, and became friends with Mastrangelo.

Members choose go to the dance program every Wednesday afternoon because they do not like driving in the dark, according to Tina Polverino. In fact, they enjoy the ballroom dancing so much that they invited their friends from Valley Stream, the Vizzinis, to join them six years ago. When they went dancing for the first time at the Knights of Columbus, they were also impressed with Mastrangelo’s dance skills. “I try to make her famous because everywhere I go I say ‘There’s a 102-year-old woman that goes dancing,” said Leo Vinizzi, who is 83.

Mastrangelo said she does not think she is all that impressive. “I don’t think I’m amazing, but the people think so, so I don’t stop them,” she said. “I just grin.”