LINCOLN - As global warming chips away at the polar caps and honeybees vanish, troubling changes are occurring that may endanger the destiny of Illinois' official state folk dance.

It has nothing to do with the greenhouse effect or undiagnosed problems down at the hive, however.

The problem is more sociological than meteorological. Or zoological.

And the 600 or so folks converging on Lincoln this weekend for the 25th anniversary of the Illinois State Square and Round Dancing Convention will doubtless be discussing it.

Didn't know Illinois had an official state folk dance?

Well, it does. And it is the square dance.

It was adopted in 1990 as "the American Folk Dance of the State of Illinois."

Gov. James R. Thompson signed the legislation. Several dozen other states, from Alabama to West Virginia, have followed suit.

Alas, these gubernatorial legislations have only had the power to adopt the dance, not keep it thriving into the 21st century.

Dale McRoberts of Morton is a legendary square dance caller hereabouts, famed for his seasoned prowess spinning his collection of 45s, while calling out directions to couples who become puppets to his every geometrical whim.

Willingly so, it should be noted.

McRoberts can remember when the state convention was at the Peoria Civic Center back in the late '80s and early '90s, and upwards of 3,000 dancers attended.

On the last Saturday night of July (the convention's longtime calendar date), downtown Peoria would be overrun with women in colorful billowing petticoats and prairie skirts.

Alongside them: courtly men in boots, denim, cowboy shirts and dapper Stetsons.

Since leaving Peoria, the convention has become itinerant, promenading left one year to the Chicago area, dosey-do-ing down to a southern locale the next.

This weekend's silver anniversary event at Lincoln Christian College (mostly centered at the Laughlin Center and open to the public who want to watch the colorful activity) is no mean assemblage: 600 people from around the state converging on the Logan County seat will have a decided economic impact, no doubt.

But the fact remains: Attendance is dwindling as the graying old guard passes on.

"You know, it's not only square dancing that's suffering," mused McRoberts, an Atlanta native and a retired Lincoln High School teacher. "It's hard to get people interested in anything, from card clubs to bowling. They just aren't as attractive to people as they used to be."

McRoberts chalks it up to the changes in society that have turned our culture inward, ensconced at home in our entertainment emporiums and cyber-worlds.

In addition, the ramped-up, high-maintenance school activities of kids have resulted in parents' free time being diverted into that realm.

"It wasn't that way when we started," McRoberts said of the square-dancing odyssey he and his wife Beverly, began back in the early '60s. "We just took the kids with us. A lot of the other people did, too, and the kids learned to dance."

Though both had been square-dancing since childhood, Bev McRoberts remembers the night she and Dale discovered their true calling, so to speak, at a barn dance in Waynesville.

Barn dancing is what Joe Schaefer, president of the Illinois Federation of Square and Round Dancing, calls "the more relaxed" form of square dancing.

Meaning, pretty much anyone can pick up the moves with little effort.

Think of it as "a traditional hoedown," noted Schaefer.

But at the dance in Waynesville that night more than 45 years ago, a Western-style caller was there, and that made all the difference for Bev and Dale.

Again, for novices, Western-style square dancing is NOT for beginners only and requires a deep commitment to a learning regimen.

In short, "You need to take lessons," said Bev. "At least 20 weeks' worth of two-hour sessions."

She added, "I usually tell people 10 weeks, without adding they'll need to take another 10 weeks."

The rationale being: "Once they take one lesson, they're hooked."

And so what if it's going to take double the time originally cited?

Accordingly, at the Waynesville barn dance, Bev and Dale "watched and decided maybe we'd like to do that. So we started taking lessons in 1967 in Mason City."

Forty years and a whole lot of dancing later, they're still at it - with the added attraction of Dale's status as one of the area's premier callers, also an endangered species, by the way.

Schaefer, who lives in Minier and dances with his wife Lois, affirms McRoberts' standing as one of the best, while lamenting that "we don't have near the number we used to," a fact that also applies to square dance clubs, like the Morton Whirl-A-Ways, of which Dale and Bev McRoberts are members, and Bloomington-Normal's own Twin City Twirlers.

"We used to have 60 to 80 clubs in the Illinois Federation; now there are only 30 to 40," noted Schaefer. "Occasionally we get some new blood, usually as a result of someone talking someone into coming that first time."

Peggy Springborn and her husband Tom, of Normal, took up the pastime around 1974, courtesy an advertisement for lessons.

Thirty-four years later, Peggy is not afraid to admit, "at this point, we can pretty much hold our own against anybody."

What she quickly discovered, along with the steps, was the lure of "just meeting good people - it seemed like everybody I've ever met in square dancing has been very kind and thoughtful, people who are there to enjoy friendship as well as the dancing."

Bev McRoberts noted another perk: "It's kept us in better shape. It can be very physical and it's great for your memory. We know people who are still dancing in their 80s, and it's wonderful for them."

But the fact remains, she rues: "This activity is struggling."

Springborn noted that when she and her husband began dancing in the '70s, "we were in our early 20s, and we were the youngest people around here dancing. Today, it seems like we are still kind of the youngest …"

"The fact is," added Schaefer, "we're all getting older, and we may see the day that square dancing dies out altogether."

But not for the time being.

And certainly not at Lincoln Christian College this weekend, where 600 true believers will still heed the calling.

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Swing this way

What: 25th annual Illinois State Square & Round Dance Convention

When: Friday through Sunday

Where: Lincoln Christian College, 100 Campus View Drive, Lincoln

Admission: $1 for spectators

Information: (217) 732-8900

Following is a schedule of events. All performance events are open to the public for spectator viewing.

Friday

• 2 p.m.: Registration for dancers at the Laughlin Center

• 7:30 p.m.: Dancing activities, Laughlin Center

Saturday

• 10 a.m.: Dancing, workshops, sewing clinic, educational seminars, style workshop, vendors, more in the Laughlin Center

• 6:30 p.m.: Opening ceremony, Hall of Fame awards and entertainment in the Earl C. Hargrove Chapel

• 7:30-10:30 p.m.: Dancing with featured caller Tom Miller of Pennsylvania in the Laughlin Center, followed by additional dances in various halls on campus.

Sunday

• 9 a.m.: Church service in Restoration Hall

• 10 a.m.-2 p.m: Final session in the Laughlin Center

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Words to dosey by

Terms to know if you find yourself dosey-do-ing at this weekend's 25th Annual Illinois Square & Round Dance Convention in Lincoln:

• Advanced: Upper level of square dancing's three main levels, requiring knowledge of up to 200 calls

• Barn dancing: Least complicated form of square dance, not requiring lessons

• Beau: Dancer in left-hand position, relative to his (or) her partner

• Belle: Dancer in right-hand position, relative to his (or her) partner

• Caller: Person who navigates dancers through a square dance

• Cuer: Person who navigates dancers through a round dance

• Mainstream: Beginning level of square dancing, requiring knowledge of around 75 calls

• Patter call: Single tune used by caller as background for series of calls, with no lyrics or accompanying music

• Plus: Mid level of square dancing, requiring knowledge of around 100 calls

• Round dancing: Form of social ballroom dancing in which the music is pre-choreographed and steps are announced by a "cuer" in advance

• Singing call: Single call where the caller mixes square dance directions with singing

• Square: Four couples

• Western square dancing: Most complicated, tightly choreographed form of square-dancing, requiring lessons