BUENA PARK : Richard Simmons Has Seniors Strutting

Armando Rodezno had been feeling down lately and he was not enthusiastic when his wife suggested they go to see Richard Simmons’ exercise show at the Secure Horizons’ Wellness Festival on Friday.

But by noon, the 70-year-old Buena Park resident was waving his arms to the music along with some 1,200 other seniors. His pelvic rolls in a Gypsy Rose Lee number earned him the title Mr. Sensuous Silver Fox.

When Simmons handed Rodezno a $100 bill as a prize, he exclaimed, “This man doesn’t want $100. This man wants my job!”

Simmons and seniors have always had a mutual attraction and he was a natural selection to promote the festival for Secure Horizons, the HMO for seniors.

“I was raised by seniors,” said Simmons, wearing his trademark hot pink spangled tank top and striped running shorts. His father was 50 when he was born and his mother was almost 40, he explained. “When I was little and cute, the older people thought I was just adorable. My peers just thought I was fat.”

A self-described food addict, Simmons performs 300 exercise shows annually in malls and auditoriums such as Buena Park’s Sequoia Athletic Conference Center.

His performance resembles a 12-step program--he hands out cards that urge people to admit their love for food but with an irresistible sense of joy and energy.

During his performances, Simmons is swamped by older women who want to hug and kiss him. He estimates that he kisses about 400,000 people a year.

Mae Minick of Anaheim became an official senior this year when she passed 65 and she can understand the attraction.

“He speaks from the heart,” she said, still teary-eyed from Simmons’ emotional speech about his mother. “I feel if he loves his mom as much as he says he does, then his mother has raised a beautiful son. He’s just an inspiration to people.”

That inspiration was the goal of the wellness program, which also offered a variety of free health checks and educational pamphlets.

Caroline Kelly, the program’s manager, cited research showing that lack of exercise, more than age, makes old people frail. “Age has nothing to do with your ability to increase muscle mass,” she said. “We believe it’s better to teach people how to exercise instead of putting them in a hospital.”

Chuck Price, 71, of Tustin agreed with the value of exercise for all ages, even though he eyed Simmons a little skeptically as the exercise guru signed autographs and flirted with his fans.

“When I worked, I always walked a lot,” Price said. “But I lost the spring in my step.” He now swears by the aerobic exercise regimens offered by the health plan.

Simmons can offer little explanation for his addictive enthusiasm. “I have no idea why I’m this way,” he said. “I’m afraid to find out. I’m afraid to go to a therapist. I just love life, I guess.”