Often touted as the event of the year, the Marshall County Dancing with the Stars fundraiser attracts nearly 400 people from around the county and beyond to witness “celebrity” friends, family, and co-workers compete on the dance floor while raising money for the Marshall County Neighborhood Center. In its 12th year, the event has been the main source of funding for the Center, a nonprofit organization devoted to helping individuals and families in the community living at or just below the poverty line. The Center currently serves approximately 400 families per month and supports them by giving them what they call, a “Hand Up”. This year’s event will take place at 6pm, Saturday, February 8th, at the luxurious Swan Lake Resort, where attendees can enjoy cocktails, a delicious buffet, a live auction, general dancing, and of course the unique and dazzling performances of the local celebrities.
Teachers, business owners & professionals, stay-at-home moms, church representatives, medical specialists, former recipients of the Center’s services, and local students make up this year’s group of dancers. Each individual or group are matched with a professional choreographer and will have rehearsed for several months prior to the night of the event. Dancing styles range from traditional ballroom and Latin to hip hop and mash-ups, and each year presents something new and exciting. And the dancers, while often nervous at the start of the event, are beaming with both relief and a sense of accomplishment by the night’s end. Anna Kietzman, co-chair of the event and previous dancer says, “We have never had a dancer regret signing up for this. No matter how anxious they get. They’re so proud of accomplishing something most people haven’t and helped their community at the same time. It’s very rewarding.”
So, how does the event help the Neighborhood Center? Chris Garner, the Neighborhood Center Director, explains, “This event is truly a group of neighbors coming together to help lift our community up. Here at the Center, we strive to help people dealing with unstable finances and challenging situations. Through the generosity at DWTS, the Center can continue to provide the basic needs of food, clothing, and bill assistance while also engaging our clients in creative avenues of working toward self-sufficiency. These avenues include monthly lunch and learn events, Project Rise Up, and personalized case management. While the basic needs bring our clients through our door, it is through these personalized and creative avenues that real lasting change begins.”
Thirteen groups of dancers will be competing this year. This year’s celebrity dancers are made up of individuals living throughout or originally from Marshall County, and include: Jessye Gilley, Stacy Prather, The Black Cats (Shiloh Milner, Chloe Garner, Anja Houin, & Isabella Kain), Anna Gilsinger, Edgar Quiroz & Lucy Carmona, Sara Matthews, EDS Evolution of Expressions Dance Studio, Doug Gehrke and Lindsay Dieter, Darek & Erin Morris, Cori Humes, Menominee Teachers (Bianka Tinklenberg, Shelby Podemski, Jessica Heeren, Danielle Jones, Marcy Bogunia, Lauren Hall, & Allie Brubaker), The Real MVPs (Tammy Bowling, Karmen Chaney, Sarah Sieh, Heather Delp, Tara Wolfe, and Katie Milliser), and Chelsey Firebaugh and Brooklynn Felke. The outstanding professional dancers include Mewsette Cartwright, Joe Cartwright, Christina Yoder, Marcia Heintzberger, Nikki Pittman, Mike Anderson and Daphne Stapleton.
The winners of the of the event will not be determined by their dance skills or abilities, but by the number of “votes” they receive. Since November, dancers have approached family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, social media “friends”, etc. to ask for their votes. “Many of the dancers enter the event with a good lead, and other dancers strategically plan their fundraising for the night of the event. Often, the top three winners are separated by only a few votes, so it can get really exciting by the end of the evening,” states Karen Benner, who currently co-chairs and started the event twelve years ago.
In addition to the performances, there will be a live auction that will live up to its reputation of being loaded with of a variety of fantastic items. A Colorado cabin, South Bend Cubs package, Wyndham Vacation, Bristol NASCAR race tickets, a robust lawn & home care package, and much more are sure to get the crowd competitively bidding and raising money for the Neighborhood Center. All proceeds from the auction, ticket sales, and dancer votes go directly to the Marshall County Neighborhood Center and benefit their main programs: Food Pantry, Household Development, and a New Building Fund.
Tickets for the event are $75.00 each and are still available, but will not be sold at the door. Those wanting to sponsor a table of 8 or 10 can be purchased on the website: events.org/neighborhoodcenter or on the event’s Facebook page: Marshall County Neighborhood Center’s Dancing with the Stars. To contact the event’s planners, or learn more information, please visit the website.
